RWBY: Team SHDW Volume 1 NO LONGER CANON
by TyForestWrites2
Summary: (Book 1) Join Skyler, Hazel, Dante, and Walker as they go to Beacon Academy and... well, you know the rest. (Mainly Skyler centric)(Yang Xiao Long x OC)(OC x OC)(Coco Adel x OC)(Volumes 1-3)
1. Prologue: Skyler Yin

**Hey guys! This is TyForestGames, and I'm here to write my first real RWBY Fanfiction. Now, if you're keeping up with me as of now, you might notice that this is out a bit early. That's just because I'm bored and you guys need something to entertain you until Avatar Book 1 is finished. Now, this will feature 4 OC's, but only focuses on one. But without further ado, let's go!**

 **XXX**

 **Prologue: Skyler Yin**

Vale. A big city on the planet Remnant and home to Beacon and Signal Academies. This particular night was about to get quite interesting.

A male teenager with brown hair and green eyes and wearing a red shirt and blue jeans was walking on the sidewalk whistling, without a care in the world. On his belt loop was a folded weapon a bit bigger than his hand. It looked like a sword was folded into a curve and the top of the handle, which had a hole in it, was showing. Another handle stuck out of the first and was inside the curve, with a trigger. There was one button on the top of the first handle.

 **(A/N: It's shaped kind of like the Plasma Pistols from Halo.)**

This was Skyler Yin, a graduate from Signal Academy and soon-to-be student of Beacon Academy. This was why he was so happy. It felt great to be graduating and moving on along with his childhood friends, Dante Williams, and Yang Xiao Long.

Skyler was so busy whistling that he didn't notice the body flying towards him until said body landing in front of him. He let out a frightened "Nyeh!!" and jumped back.

He looked up and saw a familiar face climbing up a ladder after a guy with a can and bowler hat, "Ruby?"

Ruby Rose, Yang's half sister and another childhood friend Skyler had. She was known for her upbeat and bubbly personality and unmatched skills with a scythe. After much debate in his head, Skyler ran after her.

By the time he got up the ladder, he saw a ship flying away and Ruby with another woman, who looked like a teacher. Ruby just turned to the woman.

"You're a Huntress..." Ruby said in awe before blurting out, "Can I have your autograph?!"

The woman didn't answer. She just grabbed Ruby by the ear and began to drag her away, Ruby repeatedly saying "Ow!". Skyler chose this moment to speak.

"Ruby?" He said.

Ruby paused her ear's pain receptors for a split second, "Oh! Hey Skyler!-Ow!"

"What are you doing?" Skyler asked the woman.

"This young lady was doling out vigilante justice," she answered, "That will not be tolerated."

"What?! But-"

"It's okay Skyler!" Ruby stated as the woman began dragging her away again, "I'll be fine!-Ow!"

Skyler just looked at her funny, but eventually shrugged and headed back down the ladder. She'll be fine. If anything, Ruby will be able to get out just by using her adorableness alone.

Nevertheless, Skyler was not prepared for that night.

 **XXX**

 **Hope you enjoyed! I know I barely established an origin, but more will come up in the future. Till next time guys!**


	2. Chapter 1: The Shining Beacon

**Chapter 1: The Shining Beacon**

Skyler had expected a lot of things on the day he went to Beacon. He did not expect Ruby Rose coming with him and Yang.

"I can't believe my baby sister's going to Beacon with me!" Yang exclaimed, hugging her sister, "This is the best day ever!!"

"Of all time," Skyler finished with a smirk.

"Please stop..." Ruby groaned.

Yang let go and grinned, "But I'm so proud of you!!"

"Really, sis," Ruby said, "It was nothing."

"I wouldn't call skipping two years 'nothing'," Skyler muttered.

"He's right!" Yang exclaimed, "Everyone at school's gonna think you're the bee's knees!"

"'Bee's knees'?" Skyler said, confused, "Who says that?"

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay?" Ruby exclaimed, "I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"What's with you?" Yang asked, "Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited, I just," Ruby sighed, "I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

Yang went over and gave her sister a one-armed hug, "But you are special."

The conversation was interrupted by a news cast, "The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."

"Thank you Cyril," the reporter, Lisa Lavender, said when the screen changed, "In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-"

The news cut off and was replaced by a hologram of the huntress Skyler saw haul Ruby away, "Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy!" Glynda continued, "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

Her hologram disappeared and everyone looked out the window.

"Oh wow!" Ruby squealed, "You can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far after all."

"Beacon's our home now," Yang said.

Skyler smiled, but the three then turned to see and armored male with blonde hair, holding his hands to his mouth with a sick look on his face. The male turned and ran past them, trying not to puke.

"Well..." Yang smiled awkwardly, "I guess the view isn't for everyone."

"Yeah..." Skyler agreed.

It was a nice moment while it lasted," Ruby said, "I wonder who we're gonna meet! I just hope they're better than Vomit Boy."

Ruby then looked down and freaked out, "Oh, gross!! Yang, you have puke on your shoes!!"

Then Yang began freaking out, "Grossgrossgrossgrossgross!!!"

"Get away from me! Get away from me!!"

 **XXX**

Once they landed, the blonde boy ran to the nearest trash can and puked his lunch out. Feeling a bit sorry for him, Skyler walked over and patted him on the back.

"Thanks..." the boy groaned.

When Skyler rejoined the girls, he saw Ruby fangirling over everyone's weapons.

"Easy there, little sister," Yang said, "They're just weapons."

"Just weapons?!" Ruby exclaimed, "They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!"

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?"

Ruby transformed her weapon into its scythe form, "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better..."

"Wow," Skyler said, "You really need to make some new friends."

Yang playfully pushed Ruby's hood over her head, "He's right! You need to make new friends of your own."

"But... why would I need friends if I have you and Skyler?"

"Actually..." Yang grabbed Skyler's arm and took off with a random group of people, "myfriendsarehere. Gottagocatchup. 'Kay, seeya, bye! ComeonSkyler!"

"Wait, what?!" Skyler said before being dragged off, "Yang!!"

 **XXX**

"Why did you just get me to run off with you and a random group of strangers and leave your sister to fend for herself?" Skyler asked once Yang stopped.

Suddenly, there was an explosion in the distance and Skyler pointed it out, "See?! That could be her!"

"Oh calm down," Yang replied, waving her hand dismissively, "She's fine. She doesn't need my help right now. What could go wrong?"

"Wow..." Skyler face-palmed, "I would call you mean, but then I remembered that one time at that club and that outclasses 'mean'."

"What did I do?"

"Seriously?! You destroyed the entire club!"

"Are you sure that was me? I think I would remember doing something like that."

"You fired your shotgun shell rounds into the bouncer's stomach!!"

"Wow! That sounds dangerous."

"You snapped the female bartender's neck!! You're lucky she survived and we weren't arrested!!"

"I saw her giving you the 'I want your body' look."

 **(Author's Note: Hope you get the reference(s))**

"How do you know what that look looks like? And what does that have to do with anything?"

"...Nothing!!!"

Skyler sighed, "Whatever... Let's just go to wherever we're supposed to go."

As he turned his back, Yang let out a silent sigh of relief.

 **XXX**

They made their way to the auditorium, where they decided to stay in a spot and wait for Ruby. Then Skyler spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

"Hey Yang," he said, "I'm gonna go over there for a second, okay?"

"Umm, okay?" Yang said, a little confused as Skyler walked off.

Skyler walked over to a guy, who had his back turned, with white hair, brown eyes, red jacket, gray shirt, and black pants.

 **(A/N: I WONDER WHERE THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS CHARACTER CAME FROM???*sarcasm*)**

Skyler grinned and whispered in his ear, "Boo."

The guy jumped in surprise and turned to Skyler. His surprised look turned into a smile.

"Skyler! Hey, man!" he said, "How's it going?"

"I'm been doing fine, Dante," Skyler answered, "Just walked in with Yang. No idea where Ruby went though."

"Wait, Ruby?" Dante asked, "What's she doing here?"

"She said Ozpin let her in early," Skyler shrugged, "No idea why."

"Oh, okay."

As they talked, another person caught Skyler's eye. It was a black haired girl with amber eyes and was wearing a bow. She was leaning against the nearby wall, reading a book. Skyler didn't realize he was staring until Dante snapped his finger in his face.

"Hello?" Dante said, "Remnant to Skyler? You in there?"

Skyler shook his head, "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah."

Dante looked in the direction Skyler was staring, spotted the girl, and smirked at Skyler, "What, five minutes and you already have a crush?"

"What?! No! I don't even know her!"

"That's what they all say," Dante laughed as Skyler glared at him, "Dude, I'm only joking."

Suddenly, there was a tap on a microphone and everyone turned to the stage. There was Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon, at the microphone and Glynda Goodwitch nearby.

"I'll... keep this brief," Ozpin spoke, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."

Dante raised an eyebrow, "I wanna say that's a little harsh, but he's not done yet."

"True," Skyler replied, "This is Ozpin we're talking about."

Ozpin continued, "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

"There it is," Dante said.

Ozpin walked off and Glynda walked up, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

As students began to move, Skyler turned to see the black haired girl, but she was already gone. Dante caught his disappointed look and smirked.

"What, your crush gone?"

"Dude, shut up."

 **XXX**

As Skyler and Dante set up their sleeping bags, Skyler saw Ruby and Yang, the former writing a letter, and the latter looking hungrily at all the shirtless boys. Skyler just rolled his eyes. Nothing ever changes.

See, Skyler actually used to have a crush on Yang, but he had quickly given up. While Yang would flirt, she did the same to pretty much every guy. Really, Skyler considered himself lucky with just the fact that he befriended her.

Then Skyler saw her. Still reading the same book while sitting in a chair in the corner. Her amber eyes were focused intensely on the book... until Yang dragged Ruby over.

'And of course,' Skyler thought with a smile, 'Yang has to get Ruby a new friend. But why her?'

Oh well. At least if Ruby befriends her, Skyler will get a chance to talk to her. Oh man, he was staring again. He and Dante were out as soon as the girl blew out the last candle.

 **XXX**

 **And there you have it! I know that just kinda hinting that Yang has a crush on Skyler is kinda sudden for this early on into the story, but there's at least more buildup later on. Till next time guys!**


	3. Chapter 2: The First Step

**Chapter 2: The First Step**

The next morning, after getting up and eating breakfast, Skyler and Dante went to their lockers and got all the necessary equipment out. Skyler got out his weapon and Dante his. Dante's weapons were two one-handed axes that he clipped to his sides while Skyler clipped his weapon to his side.

However, Dante wasn't focused on his weapons...

"You're not gonna talk to her yet? What, too shy?"

"I really don't want to talk about this with you."

Dante would not stop bugging him about that black-haired girl. Skyler was actually starting to consider just ignoring the girl from that point on just to shut Dante up.

"Yeah. You're shy."

"Just shut up. We better get to initiation."

As they walked off, Dante smirked, "You realize I'm not gonna stop talking about this, right?"

"Sadly, yes..."

 **XXX**

"My dear sister, Yang," Ruby accused, "Are you implying you do not wish to be on the same team as me?!"

Yang began to panic, "What? No! Of course I do! I just thought... I don't know, maybe it would help you... break out of your shell!"

"What the-?! I don't need to 'break out of my shell'! That's absolutely ridiculous! That's like me telling Skyler you have a crush on him!"

Ruby slapped a hand over her mouth. Yang's eyes widened... then turned red.

"If you tell him..." Yang whispered menacingly, "Then so help me..."

Ruby gulped and nodded. It hadn't taken much for her to learn about Yang's crush on Skyler. While Yang had played the act of the girl who flirted with every boy, she only had her eyes set on one: Skyler. With the added bonus that he was good on the eyes, his personality was what created the crush. He was a mature guy, but acted silly and smart-alecky when he wanted to. He was also the only boy, to Yang's knowledge, that had not become a victim of her flirting.

When Yang discovered this fact, she realized she needed to hide her crush on him, which she did successfully. She still flirted, hoping he might ask her out, or at the very least get a hint! But that didn't work... But despite her keeping that secret from everyone else, the one person she could not keep it from was her little sister.

"Sorry..." Ruby squeaked.

 **XXX**

After arriving at Beacon Cliff, the students were given a small speech by Ozpin and Glynda.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors," Ozpin said, "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now," Glynda continued, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'.Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

Skyler raised an eyebrow, but wasn't really that surprised. Though he did hear Ruby whimper a bit a few plates down.

Ozpin then spoke, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Skyler's eyes widened. That was pretty big news. And especially for Ruby.

"What?!?!"

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."

There were a few gulps of nervousness.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

The blonde vomit guy from the ship, Jaune, raised his hand, "Yeah, um, sir?"

"Good!" Ozpin interrupted, "Now, take your positions!"

Everyone struck a pose... Except Jaune, whose hand was still raised, "Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question."

Before Skyler could hear the question, he was sent flying. While exhilarating at first, he then experienced free-falling. That's when he pulled out his weapon. He pointed it at the ground and pulled the trigger. Flames burst out of the part of the handle where it connected to the folded blade, slowing his descent.

Skyler landed on the ground without a scratch, brushed his shirt, and started to walk. It wasn't long before he heard yells of joy and he looked up. He saw Yang bursting ahead, using her gauntlets to blast through the treetops. Leave it to Yang to get a head start.

Skyler sped up to a jog. About five minutes later, he heard a thud, like wood splintering. He turned to his left and saw a spear head with a small rope attached to it pinned to a thick tree branch. The next thing he knew, a figure flew towards the branch, under it, then began to accidentally wrap the rest of the rope around the branch before promptly landing on their face in front of Skyler.

The figure was a female with dark skin and brown hair. She groaned a little as Skyler began to clap slowly.

"Nice landing," Skyler smirked.

"Shut up..." the girl rolled onto her back and Skyler offered a hand up, which she gladly took.

She had green eyes and freckles across her face. She walked over to where the rest of her spear was hanging. She grabbed the shaft, pressed a small button on the side, and after looping back around the pole, the tip attached itself back onto the spear, the rope disappearing into the spear.

She turned to Skyler, "So... I guess we're partners now?"

"Apparently," Skyler offered his hand, "Skyler Yin. You?"

She smiled and shook his hand, "Hazel Tikal. Nice to meet you!"

They let go and began walking.

"Wait," Hazel said in realization, "Where are we going?"

Skyler thought about that for a second, "...Crap!"

He had no idea where those relics were.

 **XXX**

 **And that's done! Next time, we get a bit of fighting and a bit of a flashback... Till next time guys!**


	4. Chapter 3: The Emerald Forest

**Chapter 3: The Emerald Forest**

After hearing some gunfire in the distance, Skyler and Hazel decided to head in that direction.

"You sure about this?" Hazel asked.

"Nope," Skyler answered truthfully, "But finding other students is our best bet at this point."

Suddenly, there were rustling noises that caused them both to jump. They pulled out their weapons and stood still. Hazel's head snapped up.

"Behind us!" she yelled.

Not having time to reply, Skyler jumped away with her as a Beowolf jumped out from behind them, narrowly missing its slice. Skyler landed and gasped in surprise.

"How'd you know that?" he asked.

"Semblance," she answered, "It detects danger, but we don't have time for discussions right now."

The Beowolf was about twice the size of a normal one and the outside bones were patterned more sporadically. That meant this was an Alpha Beowolf. And that meant one thing: a pack was nearby.

"We better take out this guy and get out of here," Skyler suggested.

"Good idea."

"I'll burn it as a distraction. You stab it in the back."

"Then?"

The Alpha pounced at them and they separated.

"Improvise!"

Skyler shot out flames at the Alpha, causing it to turn and run after him. The Alpha tried to claw him, but Skyler dodged and shot more flames.

The Alpha howled, but there was a little snikt and the howl cut off. The Alpha turned its head to see that Hazel had stabbed it in the back.

Hazel grinned at it and pressed the button on her spear. The spearhead shot forward, sending the wolf along with it. It slammed into the tree and Hazel swung it around in circles.

It finally ended when the Alpha's head slammed into a tree and Hazel stopped spinning. The wolf landed on the ground with a THUD and disintegrated. Skyler grinned and ran up to her.

"Okay," he commended, "That was awesome!"

Hazel just leaned over, "Ugh... I... I think I'm gonna be sick..."

Skyler chuckled a bit and clapped her on the back, "Yeah, that may be true, but we better get moving. That Alpha's pack is gonna be here soon."

"Right..." Hazel groaned and the two took off.

"So," Hazel said, trying to learn something about her new partner, now that they had escaped the pack, "What was your life like?"

Skyler flinched as unwanted memories began to flood in.

 **XXX**

 _In Skyler's head_

 _"Skyler! Run!"_

 _"What are you waiting for?!"_

 _"Stop!!!"_

 _"I thought you were my friend!"_

 **XXX**

 _In reality_

"I grew up near Patch," Skyler deadpanned, "Nothing happened."

"Sounds boring."

"Yes. It was... So... How about you?"

"Oh, I grew up in Mistral," Hazel said, "I was gonna go to the school there, but I wanted to see new places, so I came to Beacon."

"Oh. That's pretty cool."

"Why do you want to be here?"

"Well... To be honest, at first, I just wanted to fight Grimm. But... ever since the White Fang became basically a terrorist group, I now want to create peace. Between the Faunus and humans that is. In a world like this, we shouldn't really focus on that stuff. It'll eventually tear us apart."

"Wow," Hazel stared at him, impressed, "That's actually pretty noble. But there's one thing I don't know. What's your Semblance?"

Skyler frowned, "I... don't know."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah... Embarrassing, isn't it?"

"No, not at all! In fact, just the fact that you were accepted even without a Semblance is impressive! Just makes your goal to become a Huntsman all the more interesting."

"Thanks," Skyler smiled, "Besides, all my friends are becoming Huntsmen and Huntresses, so why not go along for the ride?"

Then Skyler spotted something in a clearing. It was small, but noticeable. He walked over and knelt next to it.

"What is it?" Hazel asked as Skyler picked up the object from the ground.

Skyler examined it and his eyes widened. It was a small strand of golden hair.

"Something died."

 **XXX**

 **Truth. Sorry for the short chapter, but next chapter's gonna be crazy. Till next time guys!**


	5. Chapter 4: Players and Pieces

**Chapter 4: Players and Pieces**

Skyler and Hazel, finally, made it into a large clearing. They spotted a small ruin in the middle of it and two other figures there. As Skyler and Hazel approached, Skyler recognized them. He got a bit nervous as he saw that one was the black-haired girl, but he lightened up a bit when he saw the other.

"Skyler!!" Yang tackled him in a hug, "You made it!!"

"Yang..." Skyler choked.

"Yeah?"

"Air!"

"Oh!" she quickly let go and Skyler gasped, "Sorry!"

"It's fine," he waved off and looked at her partner, "And you are..."

"Blake," she said in a quiet voice, "Belladonna."

"Skyler Yin. Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Hazel Tikal," his partner said, "Skyler's partner."

"Cool!" Yang said, "Keep an eye on him, alright? He's a handful."

"Yang!" Skyler scolded before turning to the ruin, "So what do we have here?"

"Chess pieces," Blake said, "You pick up one for you and your partner."

Skyler walked over and picked up one, the white bishop, "Alright! Got it. What n-"

Suddenly, there was a loud high-pitched scream in the distance.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang exclaimed, "Guys, did you hear that?"

"Um, Yang?" Blake pointed up.

They all looked up to see Ruby dropping in from the sky, "HEADS UUUUUPPPPPPP!!!!!"

Before she made it to the ground, though, suddenly, there was Jaune. He collided with Ruby in midair, sending them both into a tree.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked.

"I-" Yang was interrupted by a roar.

They all turned to see an Ursa stumble out of the forest. It appeared as if it was trying to get something of its back.

Then a girl's voice yelled, "YEEEEE HAAAAAA!!!"

And the Ursa promptly fell to the ground, sending two people, a male and a female, tumbling. The male wore green and black attire and had black hair with a pink streak. The female wore a pink and white dress and had orange hair. The girl got up.

"Aww," she groaned, "It's broken..."

She climbed back on top of it, "Ewww..."

"Nora!" the guy gasped, trying to catch his breath, "Please... Don't ever do that again..."

But then he looked up and noticed his partner was gone. Everyone turned and saw Nora grab the white rook piece and start making poses.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"NORA!!!" the guy yelled, stopping her.

Nora giggled and responded, "Coming Ren!"

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked.

"I-"

Yang was interrupted again, this time by a screech. They all turned and saw a girl in gold and red with long red hair rush out of the forest, being chased by a Death Stalker. Skyler recognized the girl as Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl.

"Jaune!!" she yelled.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune yelled back as Ruby got up.

"Whoa!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping out of the tree.

"Ruby!" Jaune exclaimed.

Ruby landed next to the group.

"Ruby?!" Yang said.

"Yang!" Ruby prepared to hug her sister.

But Nora jumped in between them, "NORA!!!"

The Death Stalker continued to try to hit Pyrrha, who kept dodging.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked.

Then Yang's hair burst up and her eyes turned red, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! CAN EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?!?!?!"

"Um, Yang?" Ruby tugged on her sister's sleeve and pointed up.

Up above, Skyler could make out the figure of a white-haired girl in a white dress hanging onto the talon of a giant Nevermore. Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company.

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?!?!" Weiss screamed.

"I said jump!" Ruby said.

"She's gonna fall," Blake said.

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling," Ren spoke.

Apparently, Jaune saw his opportunity. He managed to catch her, but wasn't able to land. He fell face first onto the ground and Weiss fell on his back.

"My hero," Weiss scoffed.

"My back..." Jaune groaned.

As Weiss got off, Skyler walked over and helped Jaune up, "Hey, at least she didn't land heels first."

"Good point..."

And then Pyrrha promptly landed on her side, in the middle of the group.

"Great!" Yang said, "The gang's all here! Now we can die together!"

"Wait," Skyler noticed, "Where's Dante?"

"RUN AWAY!!!"

Everyone turned to see Dante and some other guy run out of the woods. The other guy had black hair and brown eyes and had a double-edged sword in his hand. Both stopped when they got there and began breathing heavily.

"What's with you two?" Hazel asked.

"Long story," Dante gasped, "Doesn't matter right now though..."

"The name's Walker Elliot," the other guy breathed, "Just in case anyone's wondering..."

"Well okay then," Yang said, "Now we can all die together!"

"Not if I can help it," Ruby declared and charged at the Death Stalker.

"Ruby, wait!"

Ruby fired Crescent Rose and charged at the oncoming Death Stalker. When the two met, the Grimm swiped Ruby away. Ruby got up slowly.

"D-don't worry!" she said, "Totally fine!"

"Yeah, she's not," Dante said, "Anyone else want to help?"

Yang was already running. But then the Nevermore cawed and shot quite a lot of feathers at them. One of the feathers caught Ruby in the cape and the rest halted Yang's advance.

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang cried.

"I'm trying!!" Ruby hopelessly tugged at her cape with the Death Stalker got closer.

Skyler finally snapped out of it and began running, "Ruby!!"

But then a white blur blast past him as the Death Stalker struck. Suddenly, there was an ice wall guarding Ruby with the giant scorpion's tail caught in it.

"You are so childish!"

"Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off," Ruby said, "I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine," Weiss replied and she walked away.

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief, "Normal knees..."

Yang rushed up to Ruby and gave her a hug (which Ruby grunted at upon receiving), "So happy you're okay!"

Skyler smiled a bit as he walked up and as they separated, "You had me worried for a second there."

Ruby smiled a bit and held out her arms. Skyler sighed, laughed a bit, and held out his arms.

"Alright, come here you little gremlin," and Ruby hugged him.

 **XXX**

When they got back, Jaune gulped as he looked up, "Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?"

"Look," Weiss said, "There's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right," Ruby said, "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live," Jaune grinned, "That's an idea I can get behind!"

The rest of them got a chess piece and began taking off. Yang stayed behind for a bit, grinning at Ruby. Skyler and Blake stopped to look at her.

"What is it?" Blake asked.

Yang stared proudly at Ruby as she leapt on a boulder and motions the group onward, "Nothing..."

She ran forward, and Blake and Skyler ran behind her. Blake glanced at him.

"Is she always like this?" Blake asked.

"Mostly," Skyler nodded, "Keep an eye on her. She's a handful."

Blake let out a laugh and the two took off after their teammates. At least he and Blake could get along.

 **XXX**

The group headed out of the forest and into another abandoned series of structures as the Nevermore followed them from the air. They spread out when it passed overhead, concealing themselves behind some of the stone blocks with their allies as it perched on a high column and cawed.

"Well, that's great!" Yang said sarcastically, annoyed.

Then the Death Stalker burst out of the woods, now free from the ice. It made its way towards them.

"And that's just perfect!" Skyler groaned.

"Ah, man, run!!" Jaune yelped.

Hazel, Dante, and Walker ran over to Skyler, dodging the Death Stalker.

"Okay," Hazel said, "What's the plan here?"

Suddenly, there was a loud, trumpet-like sound behind them. They turned around at saw an elephant Grimm, or a Goliath, staring at them angrily.

"Okay," Skyler said, "What did we do?!"

Then realization dawned on his face as he turned to Dante and Walker. They were both rubbing the back of their necks nervously.

"What did you two do?"

"Long story short," Walker said, "We accidentally angered it and it now wants us dead."

"Scatter!!" Hazel yelled as the Goliath tried to stomp on them.

They all dodged and the ground shook as they ran into the clearing. They were too far away from any help from their friends, but they could at least see them. The Goliath roared (trumpeted?) and charged Walker.

Walker ran out of the way and the elephant stopped. Dante brought out his axes and combined them, his weapons now resembling a single crossbow. He fired, but the bullets just bounced harmlessly off the Goliath's skin, which only angered it more.

"Normal attacks don't affect it!" Skyler yelled, "We gotta find a weak spot!"

Then an idea hit him, "Hazel! Get to the top of one of the pillars and wait for my signal! Aim for the eyes. Dante! Walker! You and I will distract it! Let's go!"

They nodded and did as they were told. As Hazel climbed up the pillar, Walker's sword's blade broke apart. But not in the way you'd think. His blade was separated into sections, a rope down the middle of it, basically turning the sword into a bladed whip.

Skyler grinned and pressed the button on his flamethrower. It unfolded and turned into a one-edged sword. The trigger was still there on the handle though. The three shot and sliced, not able to do damage, but that was part of the plan.

Skyler jumped on the Goliath's back and continued slashing. Now was the time.

"Hazel!!" he yelled, "Now!!"

Hazel, who was on top of the pillar, aimed her spear and fired the tip. The spearhead stabbed the eye, halfway blinding the Goliath. It let out a roar and turned away so that Hazel couldn't get a clear shot.

Once this happened, however, Skyler ran across the Goliath's back and onto the head, balancing on the tusk by grabbing onto it. And Skyler stabbed the Goliath's good eye with his sword.

It let out one more roar, but Skyler didn't let go. Instead, he jumped from the tusk and grabbed onto the front of the elephant's, his feet at the bottom of its mouth.

"Skyler!!" Hazel yelled, "What are you doing?!"

"IMPROVISING!!!"

Skyler then turned his sword back into a gun, and pointed his weapon in the Grimm's mouth. He put his finger on the trigger once more.

"Open wide, Dumbo."

Skyler pulled the trigger and a fire blast burst from the barrel. He refused to let go as the Goliath struggled, the flames roasting its insides. Finally, it stopped struggling and the Goliath fell to the ground. Dead.

Skyler landed on his feet and wiped his hands, "Welp, that takes care of that!"

Dante just stared at him, "...That was the most metal thing I've ever seen."

"I gotta agree," Hazel said, "That was awesome!"

They turned their attention to see that Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora had defeated the Death Stalker and Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were still dealing with the Nevermore.

Yang shot bullets from her Ember Celica, gaining the bird's attention. It flew towards her and Yang jumped right in its mouth, holding it open.

"I. HOPE. YOU'RE. HUNGRY!!!" Yang screamed in between shots she fired into the Nevermore's mouth.

She jumped out and landed just as the bird slammed into the cliff side, got up, and screeched.

"Yang," Skyler grinned, "You are the only person I know who can punch a bird out of the sky."

They continued to watch as her and Blake used Blake's weapon to string across two pillars as Weiss froze the Nevermore in place. Ruby then hopped on her Crescent Rose and got on the string, which Weiss pulled back with a glyph.

Skyler's jaw dropped, "I think I know what they're doing..."

Ruby was slingshotted directly at the Nevermore. Her blade caught in in the neck and she landed on the cliff side. Weiss proceeded to make more glyphs, setting a path for Ruby to run on.

Ruby ran up the side of the cliff, dragging the bird with her. When she finally reached the top, she pulled the trigger. Thus decapitating the Nevermore. It's giant body fell down the cliff as everyone watched in awe.

 **XXX**

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester," Ozpin called out, "Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by... Cardin Winchester."

There was some applause, and the next group walked up.

"Skyler Yin, Walker Elliot, Hazel Tikal, and Dante Williams. The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as Team SHDW (Shadow)."

Skyler nodded a bit, thinking the team name was pretty cool.

"Led by... Skyler Yin."

Skyler jumped a bit. Him? Leader? Ozpin gave him a little smile and his team walked off the stage. His teammates clapped him on the back and Skyler couldn't help but smile.

Ozpin continued as Jaune and his team walked up, "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper)."

Nora grinned happily and hugged Ren.

"Led by... Jaune Arc!"

Jaune jumped, "Huh?! Led... by?"

"Congratulations young man," Ozpin smiled.

Pyrrha grinned and punched Jaune's arm playfully. Unfortunately, the poor boy wasn't prepared and was knocked to the ground. After JNPR had left, Ruby and her team stepped up.

"And finally," Ozpin said, "Blake Belladona, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby). Led by... Ruby Rose."

Skyler took one look at Weiss's expression and said, "Oh dear. I sense jealousy..."

Nevertheless, Yang tackled her sister in a hug, "I'm so proud of you!!"

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year," Ozpin finished.

Skyler looked over at his team and smiled. Ozpin was right. This will be very interesting.

 **XXX**

 **Aaaaand done! Now to go into the filler episodes that sort of served purpose? I guess? Till next time guys!**


	6. Chapter 5: The Badge and the Burden

**Chapter 5: The Badge and the Burden**

The next morning was not pleasant. Skyler was by no means a morning person and was not happy when a loud whistle from the room next door woke him up at 6:30 in the morning (He had no doubt that was Ruby).

But now that he and his team were up, there was no going back to sleep. They unpacked all their belongings and put them wherever they wanted. Then Walker put up a poster that Skyler found himself confused by.

"Red vs. Blue?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Walker replied, "Most popular fan-made series on the Internet. You've never seen it?"

"Nope," Skyler admitted.

Skyler remembered back at Patch, he and Yang would always go on YouTube or something to just watch random videos when he visited. Maybe he could get Yang to watch this show with him. He did bring his laptop.

 **(A/N: That's a bit of foreshadowing to a future story that I'll start when I feel like it. I think you guys will enjoy it.)**

Finally, they got all their stuff put in place and were ready to go. Class wasn't until 9:00 though and it was only 8:20. They had some time to kill. Skyler took the time to add the Red vs. Blue playlist to his Watch Later playlist.

 **XXX**

They left at 8:45 and arrived in class. Then Dante noticed something rather odd.

"Why are there taxidermy Grimm here?" he asked, "Don't Grimm disintegrate after they're killed?"

"Yep," Hazel answered, "Those are fake. People just get them to show off."

 **XXX**

8:59 rolled around and Skyler noticed a severe lack of classmates, "Hey, where is everyone?"

No sooner than the words left his mouth, the doors burst open. They turned to see Team RWBY and Team JNPR run in, breathing heavily. Yang plopped down next to Skyler, sweating a bit.

"Oversleep?" Skyler asked.

"Nope," Yang replied, "Just lost track of time."

"Ah."

 **XXX**

"Monsters!" Port began, "Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

Nobody laughed. Skyler was actually considering taking a nap, just like Ruby almost was.

"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..."

He winked at Yang, who groaned uncomfortably.

"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

One student raised his fist in the back rows above, saying "Ayyyy-yep!"

Everyone else gave that student a weird look.

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

This is the part where everyone zoned out. It was clear they weren't going to learn anything, unless they wanted to hear Port's childhood story. Seriously, all Skyler heard was: Blah blah blah blah.

He looked down and saw Ruby drawing something on her notepad. She snickered at her creation and showed it to her teammates. It was a general ball-with-limbs-and-a-head drawing of the teacher with stink lines coming from him and 'Professor Poop' written underneath. Skyler, Dante, Blake and Yang were laughing, but Weiss looked annoyed beyond belief.

"Ah-heh-hem!"

Professor Port waited until he had everyone's attention again.

"In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"

He took a bow as Weiss slowly got more and more frustrated with Ruby's shenanigans.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!"

Ruby was balancing an apple on a book with her pencil held only by her index finger while making a silly face.

'That's...' Skyler thought, 'Actually pretty impressive.'

"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"

Ruby had fallen asleep again.

"A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

Weiss' rage was continuing to build.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Weiss, still angry, raised her hand instantly and said, "I do, sir!"

"Well, then, let's find out!" he turned to gesture at the glowing red eyes surrounded by shadow shaking the cage that trapped the creature inside.

 **XXX**

After allowing Weiss to go change into her combat skirt (Seriously, how can anyone fight in that?), Port readied himself for the cage's opening.

Yang raised her fist, cheering "Goooo, Weiss!"

Blake was waving a small flag saying 'RWBY' on it, "Fight well!"

'Where did Blake get that flag?' thought Skyler.

"Yeah, represent Teeeeam RWBY!" screamed Ruby.

Weiss lowered her sword and looked over at her with a menacing glare, "Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

"Oh, um... Sorry..."

"Allllright!" Said professor Port.

He stood next to the cage and pulled out his weapon. Interestingly enough, it looked like a cross hybrid of a pilgrims gun and a battle axe.

"Let the match... begin!"

The professor swung down and broke the lock, dropping the cage door and revealing a Boarbatusk inside, which immediately charged at Weiss. She used her sword to deflect its attack and rolled to the side, readying herself for its next move. The Grimm stood a distance away from its enemy, studying the girl for a moment.

"Ha-ha! Weren't expecting that, were you?" Said the professor.

'Well,' Skyler thought, 'At least I'm interested now.'

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby cheered.

She was watching in suspense, as everyone else was while the fight between the heiress and the beast resumed. Weiss was speeding towards the oncoming Boarbatusk, sticking her blade straight at its skull until they meet and Myrtenaster was trapped in the beast's tusks. Weiss was still hanging on to the hilt, but was soon tossed around as she struggled to get the rapier free.

"Bold, new approach. I like it!" Professor Port said.

'Aaaaaaand now I'm getting annoyed by him.'

"Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!"

Weiss turned to glare at Ruby, only for the Boarbatusk to turn its head and rip the rapier from the heiress' grip. Myrtenaster landed far away from Weiss, who was knocked back by the creature's tusks.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?"

Weiss looked up just at the right time to see the Boarbatusk to charge at her once more, rolling out of the way just in time to avoid getting trampled, making the creature crash into a desk. Weiss rushed at her sword and slide to get it back in her hand.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss yelled angrily at Ruby.

'That was a bit uncalled for. At least Ruby was giving helpful advice there.'

The Boarbatusk leapt into the air and rolled into a ball, spinning rapidly and landing on the ground, consistently gaining speed until it launched itself at Weiss. It came closer and closer, but Weiss activated one of her blueish-white glyphs and blocked the roll, leaping up into the now-black snowflake symbol above her and turning it blue again. She then leapt from her glyph at lightning speed and drove the blade deep into the Boarbatusk's stomach. It squealed violently and fell silent after a couple seconds as Weiss gasped in relief.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!"

Weiss just gave Ruby one last glare and stomped away.

"Sheesh, what's with her?" Jaune asked.

"Who knows?" Hazel shrugged.

"I have a sneaking suspicion about what it is," Skyler muttered and he followed Ruby out of the class.

 **XXX**

Weiss was still storming off, but Ruby turned a corner and managed to catch up with her. Skyler was close behind, but stopped at the corner, realizing a confrontation was about to occur.

"Weiss!"

"What?!" she asked.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being-?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be a leader, and all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

"What did I do?"

"That's just it! You've done nothing to earn your position! Back in the forest, you acted like a child, and you've only continued to do so!"

"Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team."

"Not a team led by you. I've studied and trained. And quite frankly, I deserve better."

She turned her back on Ruby, who tried to reach out but dropped her hand with the following words, realizing it would be of no use as the heiress walked away.

"Ozpin made a mistake." she said to Ruby.

'Okay, that is it!' Skyler thought, gritting his teeth.

He snuck past Ruby and went after Weiss, who was still stomping away.

"Hey Ice Queen!!"

That froze her in place, "...What?"

"I don't appreciate you telling off my friend like that."

"So what?" Weiss stomped up to him, "You know it's true."

"No, I don't. Ruby's trying her best and all you're doing is complaining about it! That's not gonna get you or your team anywhere."

"We can't go anywhere with her in charge!!"

Skyler growled and turned to walk away, "Not with that attitude."

"What did you just say?!"

"You heard me!" Skyler turned back around.

"Why do you care so much?!"

"Because I hate it when people are mean to the people I see as family! But you're so blinded by jealousy, you can't see how hard Ruby's really trying to help!!"

"How dare-"

"Now now," a voice spoke up, "What's going on here?"

The two turned to see Professor Port walk to them.

"I'm berating Weiss on her berating of Ruby," Skyler answered.

"You be quiet!" Weiss said and turned to Port, "I should've been leader of Team RWBY!"

Port was silent for a few seconds, "...That's preposterous!"

"Excuse me?!"

"I've believed in Professor Ozpin for many years, and the man's never once led me astray!"

"So you would just blindly accept his decision even after seeing how exceptional I am?"

"With all due respect, your exceptional skill on the battlefield is matched only by your poor attitude."

Weiss was seething now, "How dare you!"

"My point exactly."

"That's what I was trying to tell her," Skyler put in.

"And you were correct," Port said before continuing, "I see a girl before me who has spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted."

Weiss crossed her arms defiantly, "That's not even remotely true!"

She looked at Port and Skyler's non-believing faces, "Well... not entirely true..."

"So the outcome did not fall in your favor. Do you really believe that acting in such a manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision? So instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be."

Weiss smiled a little, finally calmed down, "You're right... I shouldn't have done that."

Port nodded and walked away, smiling. Then Weiss turned to Skyler.

"I'm... sorry for snapping at you earlier. You were just looking after Ruby."

"Meh, it's fine. I might have overreacted just a bit. Ruby's like the little sister I never had, so it makes sense I would be really protective of her. See you later Weiss!"

And with that Skyler took his leave and went back to his dorm.

 **XXX**

"Where were you?" Hazel asked once Skyler walked in.

Skyler rubbed the back of his neck, "It's a long story... Weiss got onto Ruby, so I got onto Weiss, then Weiss got onto me, then Port got onto Weiss, then Weiss apologized to me, I apologized to Weiss, Weiss is probably now apologizing to Ruby, and wow, I made that more confusing than it needed to be."

"Yeah, you kinda did," Dante replied.

"Can we just go to bed?" Walker asked, "Port's class completely drained me."

"We didn't do anything," Skyler pointed out.

"I know. His story was enough."

"He's got a point," Hazel said.

"Alright then," Skyler said, hopping in bed, "'Night guys."

"'Night!"

 **XXX**

 **Finally! I'm done. You won't believe how bored I was writing this chapter. Oh well. The next few chapters might go a bit smoother. Till next time guys!**


	7. Chapter 6: Jaunedice

**Chapter 6: Jaunedice**

After a fight between Jaune and Cardin in Professor Goodwitch's fighting class, there was only time for one more fight. Skyler was up next. Then Glynda selected 'Random' on her Scroll.

"The next match will be Mr. Skyler Yin versus..." her Scroll beeped, "Ms. Yang Xiao Long."

Skyler internally flinched. He liked Yang and all, but if he was honest, he was scared of fighting her, no, _terrified_. When Yang hit, she hit hard. Probably the only thing going in Skyler's favor was that he knew what made her tick. While it made her more reckless, it also made her more dangerous.

'Okay,' Skyler told himself, 'Just don't touch the hair, and you'll be fine...'

Yang walked into the arena with a large grin on her face. Typical Yang. What was worse, Yang fought hand-to-hand. Skyler was so used to training with his sword, he hadn't really focused on that type of fighting style. Aka, he had no defense against Yang other than-

"Match begin!"

Yang charged at him, still grinning, and had her fist raised.

'DODGE!!!' he internally screamed.

He swiftly twisted his body, causing Yang to miss, but then her left fist came in, hitting him in the side. He stumbled, but recovered quickly and pulled out his gun. Yang fired some long-range shots as Skyler pulled the trigger.

Yang's shots only added fuel to the fire. Yang yelped and jumped out of the way, and then started running as Skyler kept the fire chasing her. He finally let go of the trigger when Yang charged at him again. He changed it to the sword mode and blocked the punch.

He started slashing, Yang countering with her gauntlets. He knew he was making a risky move using his sword. If he cut off even a small lock of that hair, even accidentally, he was dead. But his sword was the only close-range offense he had.

While Skyler was struggling to find a plan, Yang was having the time of her life. She always loved fighting, but fighting Skyler was just an adventure in itself for her. His unique weapon made things a bit interesting for her, thus making things more exciting!

She saw Skyler slightly pull the trigger on his sword just as she threw a punch while her hair began to glow and eyes turned red. The sword and gauntlet collided, creating a small explosion and knocking the two back. The two looked up at each other, Yang grinning, but breathing heavily. Same for Skyler, except less of a grin.

"You want to call it quits?" Yang goaded.

That made Skyler smirk and got into a fighting position with his flaming sword, "I could do this all day."

That only made Yang smile more. Yet another reason why she crushed on this guy. He never gave up.

The two charged again, exchanging blows and slashes and the occasional explosion. Both of their Auras dropped into the orange and approached the red zone slowly.

The two were now at a distance, huffing. Yang's hair was practically on fire from her Semblance. Then she noticed Skyler's fearful look. Just when she was about to ask, something small floated in front of her face.

The inevitable had happened. Skyler had accidentally cut off a strand of hair. He gulped in terror as Yang's power boosted.

"I don't care if it's you..." Yang's hair shot up, "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!!!"

"Oh crapbaske-" Skyler was interrupted by a fist to the face.

His Aura began to drop rapidly. It finally ended when Yang tackled him, shoving him against the wall, arm on his neck.

"Match end!" Goodwitch announced, "Mr. Yin is out of Aura."

Yang finally calmed down and her hair stopped glowing. She finally noticed Skyler was smiling slightly, the pain kinda taking its toll on him. Yang unpinned him from the wall.

"Skyler!" she exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he wheezed, "Those hits kinda threw my nervous system out of whack there... Can't quite feel the pain..."

Then he promptly fell to the ground.

"There it is," he said in a muffled voice, "Owwwww..."

Yang just smiled and slung him over her shoulder, "Come on, Skyler. Time for lunch."

"Thanks best buddy..."

Yang flinched a bit and those last two words, but managed to conceal her disappointment, "Right... What are friends for?"

 **XXX**

"So... There we were... in the middle of the night!"

"It was day."

Nora was telling a story about an adventure her and Ren got into, with Ren correcting her. Some people, like Yang, were entirely invested in it, while others, like Jaune, seemed to be distracted.

"We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!!"

"Two of them."

"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Ren sighed, "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

"Still makes a good story," Dante complimented.

"Why, thank you!" Nora said proudly.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked her partner, "Are you okay?"

Jaune snapped out of whatever trance he was in, "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little... not okay..." Ruby put in.

Everyone looked at Jaune, who said, "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!"

He held up a thumb while laughing nervously until his attention was focused on the members of Team CRDL, standing around a girl, Velvet Scarletina, with brown rabbit ears jutting from her hair as Cardin laughed at her and Sky Lark held up his hands to his head in a mock interpretation of her unusual features. Skyler growled at the scene.

"Jaune," Pyrrha frowned, "Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!"

"He's a bully," Ruby said.

"And a jerk," Walker put in.

"And a racist," Hazel added.

"Oh, please!" Jaune persisted, "Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

"How about the time he knocked your books out of your hands by flailing wildly?" Dante suggested.

"Or the time he got your shield wedged in between door frames?" Yang added.

"Or, my personal favorite," Skyler said with no humor in his voice, "The time he shoved you in a rocket locker and launched you out of Beacon?"

Jaune attempted to laugh it off, "I didn't land far from the school!"

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask," Pyrrha assured.

"Ooooh!" Nora got up from the table and presented her diabolical plan with a not-entirely-sane grin, "We'll break his legs!!"

"I'm down," Dante grinned, "Let's do it!"

"Guys, really, it's fine!" Jaune still persisted, "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

They all looked over as the laughing grew louder, mixed in with cries of pain from the rabbit girl when one of her ears was tugged on by Cardin.

"Ow! That hurts!" Velvet stopped struggling and grimaced as she said, "Please, stop..."

Cardin continued laughing as he turns to his cronies, "I told you it was real!"

Russel Thrush was still guffawing with his teammates, "What a freak!"

"Atrocious," Pyrrha sneered, "I can't stand people like him."

Blake stared daggers at Cardin, "He's not the only one..."

Yang sadly leaned her head on her hand, "It must be hard to be a Faunus."

"Well," Weiss shrugged, "It's not our place to stop him. That's for the teachers and Ozpin."

"Well, someone should've told Skyler that," Hazel said, "'Cause he's already going over there."

Everyone turned and saw Skyler walking over to Cardin with a frown on his face. Yang then smirked.

"Oh, you guys are in for a treat," she said.

"What do you mean?" Walker asked.

"Just watch and listen."

Skyler tapped Cardin on the shoulder, "Hey Cardin?"

He turned, "What?"

"Are you _trying_ to get yourself punched in the face, or are you just _that_ stupid?"

Cardin flinched a bit and growled, "What'd you say, punk?!"

"Wow, and you're a terrible listener," Skyler smirked, "It's just not your day, is it?"

"Hey! Shut it!"

Skyler's frown appeared again, "Wow. I came over to fight you in a battle of wits, but, to my utter disappointment, you have come unarmed. Wanna try again tomorrow?"

If Cardin's face could get any redder, it would've exploded, "That's it. Tomorrow, Goodwitch's class. Me and you. Got it?"

"You're on," Skyler smirked again, "It's not everyday you get to beat up a cliche bully."

Cardin sneered, "Come on guys, let's go."

Team CRDL left the table, leaving Skyler and Velvet alone. Velvet spoke up in a quiet voice.

"T-thanks..." she said.

"Eh, no problem," Skyler replied, "People like him get on my nerves. Hating on someone because... what, they have bunny/cat ears or something like that? Doesn't make sense to me."

Velvet smiled a bit, "Well, thank you again. It means a lot."

"Anytime. See ya!"

And Skyler walked back to his table. Yang, Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and his team were nearly dying of laughter, Pyrrha and Weiss were holding in giggles, Ren was smiling, and even Blake had looked up from her book and grinned.

"Jeez..." Yang giggled, calming down a bit, "I haven't heard savagery that bad from you since Signal!"

"What happened at Signal?" Ren asked.

"Ruby was getting picked on by some guy," Yang explained, "She didn't tell anyone-"

"I didn't want you to worry!" Ruby weakly argued.

"-and Skyler eventually found out. So he told the guy off until the guy was speechless. When the guy tried to fight, that's when I stepped in."

"And I immediately see where this is going," Weiss said.

"The guy was in a hospital for a full week," Skyler smirked, "And silent for the rest of the school year."

"That's actually pretty sweet of you, Skyler," Blake complimented.

Skyler blushed, "Oh, well... Uh, it's not THAT big of a deal..."

Blake raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of behavior, but shrugged it off. Skyler meanwhile berated himself for acting like that, so he tried focusing on something else. Like Cardin. He inwardly grinned. Oh, he couldn't wait for tomorrow.

 **XXX**

 **I wanted to make this chapter longer, but there really was no point in continuing. I originally wanted Skyler or even another one of his teammates to figure out about Jaune, but it served no real importantance. Till next time guys!**


	8. Chapter 7: Forever Fall

**Chapter 7: Forever Fall**

The next day, Skyler walked into Professor Goodwitch's class, prepared for a fight. He grinned at the thought of beating the crap out of Cardin. He had analyzed his fighting style yesterday when Jaune fought him. Cardin was a glass cannon. But he _did_ like to play dirty.

Unfortunately, Cardin pulled a fast one on him before the battle even began. Apparently, he informed Ms. Goodwitch that Skyler wanted to fight him and one of his teammates. Two on one... Skyler didn't like the odds, but he liked his chances.

He looked at the faces in the audience. His team, as well as RWBY, were cheering him on. He also saw Velvet up there, smiling. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were also, but Jaune was surprisingly absent from the group and over with the rest of CRDL. What was that about?

But Skyler turned back to his opponents. His second opponent was Russel Thrush, a guy with a green mohawk. He was a bit quicker than his teammates and was a bit more crafty. He also used daggers. Skyler was starting to like his chances less and less.

Cardin noticed Skyler eying him and Russel, "What? Getting scared?"

"Dude," Skyler retorted, "I'm not the guy who had to bring a teammate to feel confident."

Cardin sneered, "Why you little-"

"I would just stop talking. You're only gonna be digging yourself a bigger hole than the one you're already in."

There was loud laughter from the audience. And Cardin was just getting angrier.

Ms. Goodwitch cleared her throat, "Match begin."

Cardin charged and raised his club, ready to swing. Skyler smirked as he started to run towards him. As Cardin swung sideways, Skyler hit the ground on his knees, ducking under the club.

As soon as looked back up, he saw Russel jumping at him. Skyler managed to get back on his feet and jump out of the way. He gained some distance before firing. The two jumped out of the way and Russel jumped in the air and rolled toward him.

Skyler couldn't do much but try to block. It failed and Skyler was knocked back. When he looked back up, the two were walking closer. Skyler got up and changed his gun into a sword.

"What?" he asked when he saw their grins, "You get one hit in and you think you've won? Man, you guys are stupid."

They both growled and Russel tried rolling at him again (Skyler was now going to affectionately call it the barrel roll). Skyler managed to dodge it and slash Russel on the side. Russel went tumbling as Skyler turned his attention to Cardin.

Cardin smashed his club to the ground, creating a shockwave that caused Skyler to stumble. By the time Skyler recovered, Russel had rejoined the fray and kicked him in the face. Skyler was knocked away and to the ground. This actually turned out to be a lot more difficult than he thought. One of them, he could take. Two of them... That was stretching it.

Then he looked back up into the audience. A few people, like Jaune, Pyrrha, Hazel, Walker, and Ruby, had saddened looks. Yang, Dante, and Nora looked about ready to jump in and help. Weiss, Ren, and Blake just had a pitying looks. Skyler growled. He was not going down like this. Especially not against Cardin.

"We've got you outmatched," Cardin grinned while he and Russel crept towards him, "Now you see what happens when you mess with us."

Skyler just got up, raised his sword, and glared at his two opponents, "All I see is fear..."

He pulled the trigger on his sword, setting the blade on fire.

"And dead men."

Cardin and Russel both visibly flinched and Skyler charged. Skyler could be quite fast when he wanted to be. Russel was first. He got a few slashes to the chest and was then kicked away before Cardin could even react.

By the time Cardin did, Skyler had already turned his attention to him. Cardin swung his club down and Skyler blocked it with his sword. Cardin looked to see Skyler smirking. Skyler then pushed harder, knocking his club away.

Skyler grabbed Cardin's arm and threw him into Russel, who had just recovered. Skyler then pointed his blade at them and smirked.

"Now burn."

 **(A/N: I originally had him say "Flame on", but I wanted this chapter to be good.)**

He held down the trigger and fire blasted its way right into Cardin and Russel. When the flames died out, the two had collapsed to the ground with charred armor.

"Match end," Goodwitch announced, "Mr. Yin is the winner."

The audience (with the exception of Cardin's team) clapped and cheered. Skyler held his sword up in the air, smirking. Man, that felt good.

Yang then tackled him, "That was awesome!!"

"See, this is why he's the leader," Dante grinned.

"It was very impressive," Blake commended.

Skyler blushed, "Thanks guys."

 **XXX**

The next week, things weren't really... normal. At least, not for JNPR. Jaune had been leaving the group daily to be with CRDL and Skyler (as well as everyone else for that matter) was really confused by this.

The only conclusion Skyler could come up with is that Cardin got some dirt on Jaune and was using it against him. But what in the world could Cardin have gotten against Jaune? Jaune was a nice guy and, while he sucked at fighting, was strategic and had great potential. Plus, how would Cardin have found out?

Maybe he shouldn't be asking questions like this to himself, but rather to others...

 **XXX**

So one day after lunch, "Hey Pyrrha!"

Pyrrha Nikos. Jaune's partner, as well as a world-renowned fighter. Just talking to her was an honor, but she insisted that they treat her just like anybody else. For someone this famous, she was surprisingly very humble. Also, just one look at her and Skyler could tell she had a crush on Jaune.

Nevertheless, the red head turned, "Oh! Hello Skyler. What do you need?"

"I just wanted to know something," Skyler replied, "Sorry if this invades privacy, but... is there anything about Jaune that would get Cardin to put him on a leash if he found out?"

Pyrrha flinched, her heart beginning to pound, "Umm..."

"I mean, that's the only thing I could think of that would explain Jaune's behavior."

Pyrrha's eyes widened in realization, "No... It couldn't be... We were alone when he told me..."

"When he told you wha- Oh, right. Sorry. A secret between the two of you. Got it."

Pyrrha smiled, a bit sadly, "Thank you. It's just... Jaune told me this secret when I offered to help him. He was convinced that he didn't need help and well... He told me his secret. Words were said and he told me to leave him alone. So I did."

Skyler thought for a moment, "Okay... Where was this conversation held?"

"The roof area. Why?"

Skyler's eyes widened, "Pyrrha... Cardin's dorm is directly below that."

Pyrrha covered her mouth, "Oh no..."

"I should've broken that guy's legs that day..."

"What do we do?"

"I'm not sure. I think we better see how things play out before we do anything drastic."

Pyrrha opened her mouth to argue, but Skyler stopped her, "I know. I don't like it either, but we can't afford to get Jaune in trouble."

Pyrrha reluctantly nodded, "You're... You're right."

"Of course I am," Skyler turned to walk away, "I know you have a crush on him and everything, but this is the best option."

Pyrrha's face became as red as her hair, "Wha-what? How did you-"

"For one, I'm not Jaune. Second, it's written all over you."

"Yeah, well... You have a crush on Blake!"

That froze Skyler, "You, uh, know about that?"

"You're not very discreet."

Skyler smiled a bit, "I suppose that's karma... Nice talking with you Pyrrha!"

 **XXX**

"Yes, students," Glynda informed the students as they walked through a red forest, "The forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

"What a ringing endorsement," Dante muttered, "I am _filled_ with confidence."

Glynda held up a full jar of their objective, "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

While Yang and Ruby smiled at one another, Jaune attempted to (noisily) sneak away from Cardin to his team, but the blackmailer saw this and grabbed Jaune by the back.

"Come on, buddy," Cardin grinned, "Let's go."

Jaune miserably looked up at his team, where Nora and Ren had already walked into the forest's depths and Pyrrha was staring sadly at the scene. Dropping his gaze, Jaune turned and followed CRDL, to the disappointment of a sighing Pyrrha. She looked at Skyler with a pleading look.

'Not yet,' Skyler mouthed to her.

Pyrrha sighed again and continued to walk away to join her team.

The assignment wasn't that hard. It just took a while. Correction: It should've taken up a short period of time, if NORA hadn't begun drinking the sap she had been handed. She even proceeded to steal other sap from people.

But progress came to a screeching halt when three members of Team CRDL ran towards them, one screaming, "Ursa!! Ursa!!"

Yang grabbed him by the collar, "What?! Where?"

"Back there! It got Cardin!"

Pyrrha dropped her jar in terror, "Jaune!"

"Guys!" Skyler said to his team, whipping out his flamethrower, "Go get Ms. Goodwitch!"

"Same to you guys!" Ruby said to her team except for Weiss.

Pyrrha did the same with Ren and Nora, "You two, go with them! There could be more!"

 **XXX**

When they got to where Cardin was, they arrived just in time to see an Ursa Major about to make mince meat out of him. Before it could, however, there was Jaune. He blocked the Ursa's swipe, but he was struggling.

Weiss prepared to fight, but Pyrrha held her back, "Wait!"

Jaune took the shield out from the Ursa's paw and slashed at its stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush him. He rolled out of the way and jumped over its swipe at his feet, but he was unprepared for when it launched a claw at him in midair. He landed far away, yet was immediately back on his feet and passing Cardin as he charged again. The Ursa knocked Jaune behind it when he tried for a leaping attack, and Jaune looked at the scroll in his shield to find out that his Aura level was in the red. He grew angry again and started to run at the Ursa as it also begins to dash towards him.

As they are just about to clash, Pyrrha saw that Jaune had left himself completely open to the Ursa's attack, and lifted her hand out to him, gathering dark red energy in her arm. Just as the Ursa was about to hit him, the glow surrounded Jaune's shield and made it lift up to block the swipe. Jaune used the surprise defensive move to lean on the ground, push his shield back up, and swing his blade right through the Ursa's neck. The head fell to the ground as the body slammed onto the ground.

"Whoa..." Skyler breathed.

"Um... What?" Ruby said as Pyrrha's hand stopped glowing.

Weiss was equally amazed, "How did you...?"

"Well," Pyrrha smiled, "Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs, Skyler has... What do you have?"

"I don't know," Skyler admitted, "I have discovered it yet."

"Oh... sorry... Well, anyway, my Semblance is polarity."

"Whoa," Ruby gasped, "You can control poles..."

"No, you dunce!" Weiss scolded, "It means she has control over magnetism!"

Ruby was still impressed and whispered, "Magnets are cool, too..."

"Magnets," Skyler muttered, "How do they even work?"

Pyrrha started to leave, but Weiss said, "Wait, where are you going?"

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed, "We gotta tell them what happened!"

"We could..." Pyrrha said, "Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?"

Pyrrha walked away again as Ruby, Skyler, and Weiss smiled at each other in understanding. Skyler then ran up to Pyrrha.

"I was right," he told her with a grin, "Just a little patience."

"I get it," Pyrrha retorted, "You don't have to rub it in."

"Hey I just proved Pyrrha Nikos wrong. I'll take whatever victory against you I can get."

 **XXX**

 **And that ends the last of the two-parters! Till next time guys!**


	9. Chapter 8: The Stray

**Chapter 8: The Stray**

"Oh man!!" Hazel was practically gushing as Team SHDW walked through the streets of Vale, "The Vytal Festival is upon us!!"

"Hazel," Dante smiled a bit, "I know that it's a huge deal and all, but there's no need to fangirl over it."

"Are you kidding?" Hazel turned to him, "This is the biggest festival... ever! How can someone not get excited for it?"

"Oh, I'm excited," Skyler said, "I just don't see the point in getting excited for just the festival. I personally can't wait for the tournament."

"That too! This is just the best!!"

Walker sighed, "Hazel, can you just keep fangirling to a minimum? We're attracting unwanted attention."

"Oh! Sorry..."

No sooner than she had stopped, he ran into somebody, knocking them both down. Dante helped her up as Hazel rubbed her head. When she realized what she did, she gasped.

"Oh!! I'm sorry!!" she told the girl she had bumped into, "I didn't see where I was going!"

The girl was still on the ground, seemingly not making an effort to get up. She wore a green and white dress, had orange hair with a pink bow, and had green eyes.

"Salutations!" the girl said cheerfully.

"Um... You gonna get up?" Dante asked.

The girl was quiet for a moment, "...Why, yes!"

The girl hopped to her feet, "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Um, hello Penny," Skyler replied, "What are you doing?"

"Oh nothing!" Penny smiled, "I'm just wandering around now! My friends had to leave!"

"Friends?" Hazel asked.

"Oh yes! My newest friend Ruby and her team!"

"Wait, Ruby?" Skyler asked, surprised, "You know Ruby?"

"Yes! Do you know who she is?"

"Well, yeah. We've been friends since childhood."

Penny gasped, "Sensational!! That would make you my friend as well!!"

"Wait, what?"

"Ruby is my friend, as well as yours! Logic dictates that that makes us friends!"

Skyler looked at his team, who all shrugged, "Sure... Why not? Say, Penny, why did Ruby and her team leave?"

"Oh, two of them got into an argument. I believe one was wearing a white dress and the other was a Faunus girl!"

"Wait, Faunus?" Dante asked confused, "Team RWBY doesn't have a Faunus on their team."

"Duh!" Penny exclaimed, "The girl in black! The cat ears!"

"Blake?" Skyler replied, "She doesn't have cat ears. She has a... bow..."

There was a moment of awkward silence among the five of them. Skyler turned back to his team.

"Guys, you don't think..."

"That seems pretty logical," Hazel admitted.

"Yeah," Walker agreed, "It explains why she got into an argument with Ice Queen. You know how Schnees are."

"But why would she hide it from us?" Skyler asked before realizing the answer, "Oh yeah... People like Cardin."

"Makes sense," Dante put in, "I guess she just wanted us to see who she was, not what she was."

"Do you think we should tell her about it?" Hazel asked.

"Tell who about what?" Penny interrupted.

The team jumped, realizing they nearly forgot about Penny. Skyler cleared his throat.

"Oh, um, nothing to concern yourself with Penny," he said, "It's just... Well, we need to go back to our dorm. See you some other time?"

"Oh, absolutely!" she said, her smile never fading, "I will see you again soon!"

And with that, the group left.

"Is it just me, or did she seem kinda odd?" Hazel asked.

 **XXX**

"Okay, so that's the plan," Skyler finished.

"Got it," Hazel said.

"Agreed," Walker replied.

"I'm sorry, what was the plan?" Dante asked.

"Dante!!" Skyler scolded.

"I'm sorry!" Dante replied, "I kinda zoned out!"

Skyler sighed, "Okay, listen. We can't all go up to Blake and confront her about it. She'll feel threatened if we did. So, I say that only one of us goes up to her and tells her."

"And I say we put who that is to a vote," Hazel put in.

"Oh! Okay," Dante grinned, "I vote Skyler!"

"As do I," Walker agreed.

"Me too!" Hazel smirked.

"What?! Why me?!" Skyler asked.

"One: You're the leader," Dante said, beginning to push Skyler out the door, "Two: You're the one with a crush on her. Now get out there!"

Dante pushed Skyler out and shut the door. Skyler fell to the ground and heard the door lock. He got up and rubbed his head.

"Seriously?!" he yelled at his teammates, "Jerk move, guys!"

"Go get her tiger!" he heard Hazel yell back.

Skyler sighed. There was just no helping his team, was there? He made his way to Team RWBY's room (it wasn't that far) and he heard talking... that quickly turned into a single yell.

"-it's because they're a bunch of thieves... and murderers!" he heard Weiss say, presumably to Blake.

Skyler figured this probably wasn't the best time to knock.

Then Blake yelled, "WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!!!"

The silence that followed confirmed that Skyler came over at the _worst_ possible time.

Blake stuttered, "I..."

Then like that, the door swung open and Blake ran right past Skyler and through the hallway. Skyler watched her go and then turned back to see Ruby, Yang, and Weiss standing there with shocked faces.

"So..." Skyler said, "Umm... I came over at the worst possible time, didn't I?"

 **XXX**

"So what you're saying is," Skyler summed up after Team RWY explained what happened, "Blake accidentally spilled that she was a part of the White Fang because of her argument with Weiss."

"Yep, that's it," Yang confirmed.

"A criminal!" Weiss exclaimed, "Right under our noses!"

"Wow, Weiss," Skyler deadpanned, "You are just the _epitome_ of racist right now."

"Wha-! How dare-! I'm a victim!!"

"And so is she. You just aren't willing to look at it from her point of view."

Weiss just growled.

"So..." Ruby then stood up, "Who wants to go find a teammate?"

 **XXX**

 **Sorry this chapter is shorter than usual, but I hope it made up for it in entertainment. Till next time guys!**


	10. Chapter 9: Black and White

**Chapter 9: Black and White**

Two days later, Teams RWY and SHDW were still out searching for Blake. Skyler have his team a brief explanation about what had happened and they all agreed to help find her.

"I guess that makes some sense why she ran away," Hazel said as they walked, the sun beginning to set.

"Agreed," Dante replied, "I say that she saw what the White Fang was really doing and left."

"That's most likely what happened," Skyler agreed, "Blake may be... introverted, but she's no crook."

"If only Ice Queen saw things like that," Walker stated.

"Who knows?" Dante shrugged, "She might have a change of heart. She has had two whole days to think it over."

They kept searching until it got dark. Then a thought occurred to Skyler.

"Hey guys," he said, "We haven't checked the docks yet."

They all got wide-eyed and the team headed for the docks.

 **XXX**

When they got there, they walked through a maze of Dust crates until they heard the sound of a ship. They ducked behind a crate as a Bullhead flew overhead and landed in the open.

"What the heck?" Walker said, "This is a docking bay, not an airport. What's going on?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Skyler responded.

Their question was then answered when the doors to the ship opened. People in light armor and animal-themed masked poured out. On the back of their armor was the symbol for the White Fang.

"The White Fang?" Hazel questioned, "What are they doing here? More importantly, what do they want with Dust?"

Then a new voice spoke, "Hey! What's the holdup!?"

The group saw a man exit the vehicle. Skyler recognized him as the guy who Ruby had chased after before she was yanked away by Glynda. Roman Torchwick.

"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment," Roman said, "So why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

"What the heck are the White Fang doing, taking orders from a human?" Dante asked, "Much less from someone like Torchwick."

"Something fishy is going on," Hazel agreed.

"Keep to the shadows," Skyler ordered, "Let's see if we can get more answers."

SHDW began to sneak their way through the crate maze and closer to Roman.

"So, what's the plan?" Walker asked quietly.

"Working on it," Skyler hissed.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Roman berated a White Fang member, who was holding a coil of rope.

Before anyone could react, however, there was Blake. The team watched, a bit shocked, as she appeared behind Roman and put her blade to his throat.

"What the-" Roman exclaimed before groaning, "Oh for f-"

"Nobody move!" Blake demanded as the White Fang drew their weapons.

"And there's Blake," Skyler mumbled.

"Whoa!" Roman grinned, "Take it easy there, little lady."

Blake then grabbed her bow and swiftly removed it, revealing her cat ears, "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Dante muttered.

Roman laughed, "Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!"

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

Suddenly, the air was filled with more turbines, blowing the wind wildly around the holdup.

Roman looked up, "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation..."

While Blake stared in horror, Roman smirked. He aimed his cane at the ground and fired, resulting in a large explosion. The amount of smoke caused SHDW to cough wildly.

"Jeez!" Hazel complained, "How much dynamite is in that cane?"

By the time the smoke cleared they saw a new fighter in the area. He was a monkey Faunus with blonde hair, white jacket, and a tail. They watched as this newcomer easily defeated the White Fang members and went after Torchwick.

"Think we should help?" Walker asked.

Then more soldiers jumped out of the other Bullheads and towards the fight.

"Nah," Dante said nervously, "I think we'll be just fine if we stay right here."

Then a gloved fist knocked him into the open. Skyler looked at Dante incredulously.

"You were saying?" he asked before turning around and seeing a rather large figure behind them, "Uh oh."

The next thing they knew, they were all knocked into the open by this new challenger. They all stood back up, wielding their weapons and sizing up their opponent.

The guy was at least a head taller than all of them, wore more protective White Fang themed armor, was definitely a lot more muscular, and was now wielding a chainsaw. He also had a Grimm mask that covered his entire face.

"What the crap is with this guy?" Dante asked.

The White Fang Lieutenant revved up his chainsaw and charged. He was a bit slow, but when Walker tried to counter his first blow, Walker was easily knocked aside. The Lieutenant then did an overhead slash, Dante barely being able to block with his twin axes.

There was the sound of a gunshot and the Lieutenant immediately held is arm out, catching rope. Hazel had fired her spear tip, but the Lieutenant had caught the rope, the spearhead dangling.

Fortunately though, without the use of both hands, the Lieutenant wasn't able to keep the defending Dante at bay. Dante parried the saw away as the Lieutenant let go of the rope. After getting a few slashes in, Dante kicked the Lieutenant in the stomach, only able to send the bigger man stumbling back a little.

The Lieutenant growled and raised his saw, preparing to charge again. But before he knew it, he couldn't move. Walker and Hazel had used their weapons to wrap the Lieutenant up in rope and sword edges. As he struggled to get free, the Lieutenant turned around... only to find Skyler's gun pointed at his face.

Skyler gave a little wave, "Hi."

Skyler pulled the trigger just as the ropes returned to their weapon handles, thus causing the Lieutenant to spin. This allowed the flames that burnt him to roast him from all sides. After most likely gaining second degree burns, the Lieutenant was kicked in the face by Skyler, sending him sprawling near where Blake was.

Blake glanced at the Lieutenant and then to SHDW, and her eyes widened, "Skyler?!"

Skyler smirked and gave a two-fingered salute, "Hey Blake!"

"Smooth," Hazel said.

But then they were surrounded by White Fang members. The team stood shoulder to shoulder as the members closed in.

"Hey!"

Everyone looked up and saw Ruby on top of a crate, wielding her scythe. And to SHDW's surprise, Penny was behind her.

"Well, hello, Red!" Roman smirked, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Ruby," Penny said, "Are these people your friends?"

"Penny, get back," Ruby said, turning to her.

Roman took the opportunity and fired his cane at her. He scored a direct hit and Ruby went flying and Roman began laughing.

"Ruby!!" Skyler yelled, getting angry.

But so was Penny. She turned to Torchwick and glared. Ruby got back up.

"Penny!" she said, "Wait, stop!"

"Don't worry, Ruby," Penny's eyes narrowed, "I'm combat ready!"

SHDW watched in amazement as Penny's backpack opened and several blades appeared and hovered over Penny's back. Leaping from the rooftop with the weapons acting as wings, she sent three of her swords to knock two White Fang soldiers down before even landing on the ground, where she proceeded to fling the swords at one enemy, impale another to a wall, create a barrier of spinning steel against a running attack, leaping over a goon with her swords in tow, and finally making a wheel that she threw to knock multiple Faunus off their feet.

Three Bullheads came from the skies and opened fire on the battle, but Penny merely formed a shield and launched two of her swords into the wall behind her, which in turn pulled their wielder back with their strings. When her swords swirled around her again, she commanded them to open their points and build up a large glowing ball of green light. With a punching action, several bright lasers cracked the pavement when they fired at the transports and sliced each one in half, causing several of the White Fang members inside to fall and letting everyone watch as Bullheads fell in pieces behind her.

Skyler and his team all stared with slack jaws, "Whoa..."

Penny aimed her swords at the remaining Bullheads holding the crate of Dust and pulled back on their wires, tugging the aircraft with them.

Seeing the Bullhead's flight fall under Penny's control, Roman grimaced and turns to run towards the last transport.

Penny, after her large green pupils dilated for a second, pulled with all her might on the strings and the aircraft crashed into a stack of crates, causing an explosion as a result.

Roman watched from the safety of his escape, "These kids just keep getting weirder..."

With his observation made, he used his cane to close the doors, and the jet lifted off, flying away from the lost battle.

Blake walked over to Team SHDW, just as shocked as they were. After a few moments, she turned to them.

"So... How much did you hear?" she asked.

"Nothing we didn't already know," Skyler answered.

"What do you mean?"

Skyler put a hand on her shoulder, "Blake... I think we all need to talk."

 **XXX**

Later, a handful of police cars were at the docks, where Ruby, Blake, the monkey Faunus named Sun, SHDW, and Penny were sitting on boxes in silence. That is, until Weiss and Yang appeared on the scene.

Ruby began speaking quickly to explain the situation, "Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..."

But Weiss ignored her and squared off with Blake, who calmly looked her down, "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

"Stop," Weiss interrupted, "Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you? Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided... I don't care!"

"You don't care?" Blake asked, surprised.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

Weiss silenced her, "Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates. And not some..."

Weiss looked at Sun behind her as she caught herself, "Someone else."

Blake slightly smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek, "Of course."

There was silence until Ruby exclaimed, "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"

Team SHDW grinned at the scene.

"Well," Walker said, "Things seemed to work out."

"Agreed," Hazel replied, "In fact, I think they could've worked things out even if we didn't get involved."

"Oh come on!" Dante assured, "We took out that big guy, didn't we?"

"He's got a point," Skyler said, "We worked great out there. No doubt we can do well in the Vytal Festival Tournament."

"And maybe you can finally try to ask out Blake," Hazel grinned.

Skyler sighed, "This isn't gonna go away, is it?"

The whole team replied, "Nope!"

 **XXX**

 **And that ends Volume 1! See you in Volume 2! Till next time guys!**


	11. Chapter 10: Best Day Ever of All Time

**Chapter 10: The Best Day Ever... of All Time**

It had been a few weeks since the incident at the docks. The two teams involved had decided to not talk much about it, as it raised too many questions to talk about right now.

As for right now, Blake Belladonna was staring at something in her notebook, deep in thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by her partner, Yang Xiao Long.

"Watch'a do'in?" Yang asked.

"Oh... just... going over notes from last semester," Blake answered.

Yang then sat up and caught a thrown grape in her mouth, courtesy of Nora Valkyrie, who was sitting with the rest of her team just a table away.

"Lame!" Yang said, her mouth slightly full.

"Sup guys?" Skyler Yin said, walking to the table and sitting next to Weiss Schnee.

"Hey Skyler!" Yang happily greeted as the rest of Team SHDW sat down at the table.

"So what's going on today?" Hazel Tikal asked.

Before anyone could answer, Ruby Rose appeared and slammed a huge binder on the desk. The binder was titled 'Best Day Ever Activities'. Ruby cleared her throat.

"Sisters!" Ruby gestured to Yang, "Friends!" she then gestured to Blake and SHDW, "...Weiss." she pointed as Weiss.

"Hey!" Weiss said.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream!"

"This ought to be good," Yang grinned before catching another grape in her mouth.

"A dream that one day," Ruby continued, "all of us will come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had... ever!!"

"Did you steal my binder?!" Weiss said, recognizing the binder.

Ruby made quotations with her fingers, "I am not a crook."

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"Now I'm actually really curious," Walker Elliot leaned forward.

"I'm talking about kicking off this semester with a bang!" Ruby said.

"I always kick my semesters off," Yang began, grinning.

"Don't you dare-" Skyler tried to stop her.

"With a _Yang_!" Yang finished and everyone groaned, "Eh? Guys? Am I right?"

Nora threw an apple, hitting Yang in the face, "Boooooooo!!"

"Look guys," Ruby said, "It's been a good two weeks and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But, classes start back up tomorrow! Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today."

"I'm not sure whether to be proud or scared about what you have in store," Weiss replied.

Yang picked up an apple and threw it back at Nora, who dodged, giggling, and the apple hit someone else, who yelled, "Hey!"

"I don't know," Blake said, "I think I might sit this one out."

"I know what you mean," Dante Williams put in, "I was hoping we could have a normal day for once."

"'Normal?'" Skyler scoffed, "Dude, we're a bunch of teenagers who built weapons of mass destruction as children and are trying to defend our world from evil monsters with bones on their outsides. Not much is normal here."

"He's got a point," Hazel laughed, "Nothing is normal."

"Normal or not," Weiss put in, "Whatever we do today, we should do it as a team."

"I got it!" Nora shouted.

"I, for one, think that-" Weiss was interrupted by a pie to the face.

Everyone looked over at Nora. She immediately pointed at her best friend, Lie Ren, who had face-palmed. Skyler then looked at his teammates, who all nodded. The same thing happened with RWBY.

Skyler smirked, "Let the war begin."

 **XXX**

Meanwhile outside, Sun Wukong was walking and talking with his friend and teammate Neptune Vasilias. Sun was currently talking to him about the events that occurred at the docks.

"Man, that's harsh," Neptune said.

"I know," Sun replied, "We were fighting side by side. She was super fast and I threw a banana at the guy, which sounds gross, but it was awesome."

"Nice!"

"Right? And the best part is, she's a Faunus," Sun covered his mouth, realizing he had let that slip, "But that's a secret, okay?"

"Got it."

Sun leaned in close in order to stress the importance of this secret, "And not a, 'I'm gonna go tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back secret', I'm talking _secret_ secret!"

"Whoa, chill out, man, okay? I got it," Neptune's voice lowered to a whisper, "I got it!"

"You better," Sun said as food (as well as Jaune Arc) splattered into the windows as students ran around, "I just don't want to screw this up, you know? The people here are the coolest! No offense to you guys."

"None taken."

They arrived at the cafeteria doors, "They're just in here. I'm really excited for you to meet them. So be cool, okay? You're gonna be cool, right?"

"Dude," Neptune smirked, his teeth sparkling.

Sun nodded, "Good point."

Sun and Neptune entered the cafeteria where students were heard screaming. Sun looked around in excitement while Neptune looked around in slight horror.

"Food Fight!!" a student screamed as all students ran out of the cafeteria past the two.

Then Nora began laughing evilly. She was atop of a fort made of tables while the rest of her team stood on various levels.

"I'm queen of the castle!" Nora yelled out, "I'm queen of the castle!!"

Ruby stomped on a lunch tray, holding a milk carton, "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!"

She squeezed the carton, milk squirting everywhere, "It will be... DELICIOUS!!!"

"Yeah!!" the rest of her team cheered.

"Off with their heads!!" Nora commanded, jumping down.

Sun and Neptune blinked as all out war began. Melons, turkey, swordfish (what?!), you name it. Then the two heard someone.

"Psst!!"

The two turned to see Skyler and Dante hiding behind an overturned table.

"Skyler?" Sun said, "What the heck are you two-"

"Quiet!" Dante hissed, signaling them to join them behind the table, "Just get over here if you expect to survive!"

That didn't take much convincing. The two quickly shuffled over to them, pressing their backs to the table.

"Where's the rest of your team?" Sun asked.

Skyler and Dante pointed at another flipped over table, where they saw Hazel and Walker hiding. Hazel and Walker gave a little wave.

"Everything went out of control real fast," Skyler explained as food flew over their heads, "So we have set up defenses, waiting for the right time to strike."

Sun grinned and looked at Neptune, "I love these guys."

"And you are?" Skyler said, glancing at Neptune.

"Name's Neptune," he answered.

"Any help would be appreciated," Dante suggested.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Neptune said, covering his head as something smashed into the table, "I'd rather not be killed, if at all possible."

Skyler risked a peek at the action and saw Nora smash Yang through the ceiling and Blake get pummeled by soda cans. Then Ruby crouched down.

"Oh no," Skyler gulped, then announced to everyone, "Hold on to something!!"

Not asking any questions, everyone grabbed onto their respective tables. And then Ruby took off. Debris flew back in her direction, the wind nearly taking the tables away from SHDW, Sun, and Neptune. But... things went crazy.

Team SHDW could no longer hold on, though Sun and Neptune were fine. The four flew after the debris, smashing into Team JNPR, face first. Skyler smashed right next to Pyrrha Nikos, Hazel next to Ren, Dante next to Nora, and Walker next to Jaune.

"Hey P-Money..." Skyler groaned.

"Hello."

"Sup?" Nora grinned at Dante.

"Hey..." Dante managed to say.

Then they all collapsed to the floor, covered in food debris. Sun grinned at Neptune again.

"Told ya. I love these guys."

Then Glynda Goodwitch stomped in and raised her wand. Immediately, all the tables, chairs, and debris were fixed and moved back to where they belonged.

"Children, please," Glynda scolded, "Do not play with your food."

Nora burped in response. Then Yang crashed through the ceiling. Luckily, Skyler managed to catch her.

"Sup?" he asked, holding her bridal style.

Yang really hoped her blush wasn't visible through through the food on her face. He set her down and everyone began laughing, Yang giving a thumbs up.

Glynda growled, but Ozpin showed up and put a hand on her shoulder, "Let it go."

Glynda sighed, "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

"And they will be. But for now, they're still children. So why not let them play the part."

Ozpin began to walk away, "After all... It isn't a role they'll have forever."

 **XXX**

 **And here we are with Volume 2! Till next time guys!**


	12. Chapter 11: Welcome to Beacon

**Chapter 11: Welcome to Beacon**

In the Beacon Academy library a few hours of cleaning up later, Team RWBY was playing Remnant: The Game, Team JNPR was studying, and Team SHDW was just kinda hanging out, some watching the card game. Then Ruby, who has been contemplating her next move, made her move.

Ruby pointed at Yang, "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

Yang thrust her elbow down as she balled her fist, "Bring it on!"

"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Ruby slapped her card down on the table and Yang feigned a look of shock, "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!"

Yang gasped, "You fiend!!"

"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time is only... one turn!"

Then Yang laughed, "Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!!"

'If only they made a show based on a card game like this,' Skyler thought, '...Nah, that sounds stupid. The only thing that would make that idea stupider is if it were on motorcycles.'

"Giant Nevermore!" Yang slammed the card down on the table, "If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

"But!" Ruby put in, "If you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take," Yang glared at her sister.

Unfortunately for Ruby, Yang rolled an eight, "Nooooooooo!! My fearless soldiers!!"

Yang shrugged, "Eh, most of them were probably androids."

"Goodbye my friends, you will be avenged..."

"Not until I draw my rewards! Which are double this round thanks to the Mistral Trade Route!"

"Bah!"

Nora, who snored, began talking in her sleep, "Oh. Have pancakes."

"Oh, and what's this?" Yang said, "The Smugglers of Wind Path?"

Ruby growled, "Bah! Bah, I say!"

"I say, it looks like I'm taking two cards in my hand!"

And thus, the battle was over, with Yang as the victor.

"Have you no heart?" Ruby collapsed on the table, crying, "Nooo!"

"Well, Weiss," Yang said to her sister's partner, "It's your turn."

"I have..." Weiss said, "Absolutely no idea what's going on."

"But hey," Hazel grinned, "It's entertaining to watch."

"I am so glad you're getting a kick out of it," Weiss glared, "I'll be sure to take advice from the peanut gallery."

Hazel glared back, "Whatever, Ice Queen."

"Will everyone stop calling me that?!"

"You can't change who you are, Ice Queen."

Dante stepped in before things got out of hand, "Alright ladies, break it up. Please continue with the game, Ice Queen."

"Hey!!"

Hazel snorted in amusement as Yang began showing Weiss what to do.

"Look, it's easy!" Yang instructed, looking at Weiss' cards, "You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus."

"That sounds dumb," Weiss scoffed.

"You would know," Hazel muttered, earning another icy glare.

Yang continued, trying to stop an inevitable fight, "See, you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge... Oh, oh, Resourceful Raider! See, now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet-"

"Nooo!" Ruby sobbed.

"-and put it in your hand!"

"Okay..." Weiss said, still a bit confused.

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom! Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war."

"And that means..."

Ruby cried, "You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!"

Power shown in Weiss' eyes as she stood and laughed maniacally, "Yes!! Fear the almighty power of my forces!! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!!"

"That went... very oddly detailed," Walker grimaced.

"Trap card," Yang said before Weiss could possibly go on, "Your armies have been destroyed."

Weiss slumped in her chair, tearing up, "I hate this game of emotions we play..."

"Said every Otaku ever," Skyler agreed.

Ruby jumped into Weiss' lap, hugging her, "Don't worry Weiss! We'll make it through this together!!"

Weiss hugged back, "Shut up!! Don't touch me!!"

"Alright Blake," Yang said, "You're up."

Blake snapped out of whatever trance she was in, "Oh, um, sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale," Yang reminded her, "Trying to conquer the Kingdoms of Remnant!"

"Right..."

Jaune then approached the table, "Hey! Can I play?"

"Sorry Jaune, we've already got 4 people," Ruby told him.

"Besides," Weiss said, "This game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess."

"Uhh, you attacked your own naval fleet 2 turns ago," Yang said, Weiss making an annoyed sound.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen!" Jaune challenged, "I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader!"

"By who?" Weiss asked, "Your mother?"

"A-and Pyrrha!" Jaune defended.

Pyrrha waved, "Hello again!"

"Arkos for life," Skyler muttered under his breath.

"Come on," Jaune begged, "Let me play your hand for a turn!"

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!" Weiss answered.

"Why not?" Jaune asked, "You've trusted me with way more important stuff before. I mean, you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fa-"

Pyrrha instantly darted over and slapped a hand over Jaune's mouth, "-fun-loving person, whom we all admire and respect!"

Jaune laughed nervously as Blake glared at him.

"Right... that..." Jaune muttered before bowing, "Ladies, enjoy your battle."

"Sup losers?"

Everyone turned to see Sun and Neptune walking towards them.

"Hey Sun!" Ruby greeted.

"Ruby," Sun nodded, "Yang, Blake... Ice Queen."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Because you are one?" Hazel suggested.

"Okay, that's it!" Weiss got up, "You wanna go, Freckles?! I'll show you how cold I can be!!"

"Kinda proving Hazel's point, right?" Dante pointed out.

"You, shut up!" Weiss scolded, "This is between me and her!"

"You know what, Ice Queen?" Hazel said, "Next time in Goodwitch's class, you and me. Got it?"

"You're on," Weiss sneered.

"Oooookay..." Sun said, now feeling a bit guilty, "Anyways, I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."

"Uh, aren't libraries for reading?" Neptune said.

"Thank you!!" Ren exclaimed, waking up Nora.

"Pancakes!" Nora blurted.

"Shut up," Sun told his friend, "Don't be a nerd."

"Hey," Walker said, "Nothing wrong with being a nerd."

"Thank you!!" Skyler threw his hands up, "Hallelujah, amen."

"I'm Neptune," Neptune introduced himself.

"So Neptune," Weiss asked, "Where are you from?"

"Haven," Neptune suavely slid next to Weiss, "And I don't believe I caught your name, Snow Angel."

"Um..." Weiss said, getting flustered, "I'm Weiss."

"Are you kidding me?!" Jaune quietly complained.

"Pleasure to meet you," Neptune winked.

Sun turned his attention to Blake, "I never took you as the board game playing type."

"Right, well," Blake got up and began to leave, shoving away Sun, "I think I'm done playing actually. I'll see you guys later."

When she left, Nora shrugged and scoffed, "Women."

"Preach it," Dante said, moving over next to Nora, them high-fiving.

"So..." Skyler said, "Can I play?"

Yang gestured to Blake's now empty seat, and Skyler sat down there. He took one look at the cards and grinned.

"Ragnarök," he said, placing the card down, "I win."

He got up and left the seat and out of the library. Everyone stared at him as he left, jaws hanging open.

"Okay," Hazel said, "I know this is just a card game, but that was pretty cool."

"What a guy," Yang sighed, watching him with longing eyes.

Then she caught everyone staring at her, "What?!"

"Nothing!!" everyone panicked and turned their attention somewhere else.

 **XXX**

Skyler walked out of the library, just feeling awesome. But then his mind wandered to Blake, wondering about her attitude. She had become more reclusive than usual, and Skyler was pretty sure she hadn't slept in a few days.

There was no doubt that Blake was still upset about the whole White Fang and Torchwick stuff. She was desperate for answers. Kinda reminded Skyler of certain situation his blonde childhood friend got into.

Skyler was so focused on his thoughts, when he turned the corner, he bumped into someone, causing them both to stumble back.

"Oh!!" Skyler immediately apologized, "Sorry about that! I was a bit lost in thought."

"It's quite alright," the girl he bumped into said.

The girl had raven black hair with amber eyes, kinda like Blake's, except these seemed to stand out more. Her hair partially covered half of her face, covering one eye. Behind her was a guy and another girl.

The guy had gray hair and kinda reminded Skyler of Ruby and Yang's Uncle Qrow. The girl had dark skin, green hair, and kinda resembled Hazel, slightly. In the back of his mind, Skyler couldn't help but think that he'd seen her before, despite never having seen any of them until today.

"I'm guessing you're exchange students?" Skyler guessed, holding out his hand, "I'm Skyler."

The woman took the hand and shook, "Cinder."

"I'm Emerald," the girl answered and then pointed at the guy, "And that's Mercury."

"Nice to meet you!" Skyler then began to walk away, "See ya around!"

"Yes," Cinder grinned, "Of course."

The three continued on, though Emerald looked back at Skyler, trying to remember where she had seen him before.

 **XXX**

 **Ominous! I'll explain that in another book once I finish this one. And as for the rivalry between Weiss and Hazel, that'll be further explained in another chapter. Till next time guys!**


	13. Chapter 12: A Minor Hiccup

**Chapter 12: A Minor Hiccup**

After Professor Port's class, as well as more of Jaune's failed attempts at asking out Weiss, Skyler headed back to his room. But on the way, he passed by Team RWBY's room and heard what was being said, as their door was open slightly.

"Alright guys," Ruby exclaimed, "Today's the day! The investigation begins!"

"I'm glad to see we're taking this so seriously," Weiss said sarcastically.

"Hey, we've got a plan!" Yang argued, "That's... moderately serious."

"Right!" Ruby looked around at her teammates, "Everyone remember their roles?"

"You and I will head to the CCT," Weiss stated, "And check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members," Blake said, "If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

"I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale," Yang put in, "Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard..."

"Please tell me you're not talking about Junior."

The team jumped at the sound of Skyler's voice, who said, "Hello, I couldn't help but overhear you girls from your _open door_. Are you going to find out more about the White Fang?"

"Don't try and stop us," Blake said, rather harshly.

"Are you kidding?" Skyler replied, "If anything, I want in! I was there at the docks too, you know!"

"He's got a point," Weiss admitted.

"...Fine," Blake replied, "You can join us."

"You can come with me!" Yang said excitedly, "You know Junior too, don't you?"

"How could I forget?" Skyler replied, "Last time I went there, you trashed the place."

"Are you in or not?"

Skyler sighed, "I guess I'm in."

"Great!" Ruby said, "We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found. Let's do this!"

"Yeah!" a familiar voice said, startling them all.

Everyone turned to see Sun outside, hanging from a tree, looking through the open window.

"Sun?!" Blake exclaimed.

"How did you get up there?" Yang asked.

"Ah, it's easy," Sun said, "I do it all the time."

"You do what?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Dude," Skyler said, "Phrasing."

"I climb trees all the time!" Sun corrected and he flipped into the dorm room, "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

Blake stepped forward, "We are going to investigate the situation... as a team."

"Plus one!" Skyler added.

"Sorry, Sun," Ruby apologized, "We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

"Psh!" Sun scoffed, "That's dumb! We should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!"

They all leaned out the window on top of one another cartoon-style and saw the aforementioned teammate of Sun's standing outside, cool as can be.

"Sup?" Neptune said.

"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked.

"I have my ways," Neptune then looked down nervously, "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now."

They got him inside and Ruby laid out the new plan, "Alright, I'll go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake..."

Ruby then pushed Neptune past Weiss (Neptune winking at Weiss), "And Neptune can go with Yang and Skyler. Everyone good?"

"Actually, Ruby," Weiss suggested, "Why don't you go with Yang and Skyler? After all, Yang's your sister and Skyler's your childhood friend."

Ruby pushed Neptune, who was stiff as a board, in between Yang and Skyler. When Ruby was done pushing him, he rocked back and fourth looking nervous. Yang put her hand on his shoulder to stop him from rocking.

"But, Weiss," Ruby said, "Who would go with you, then?"

"Well... I guess Neptune could come with me."

Neptune put on a suave look and pointed at Weiss, but RWBY's team leader cracked up, "Hahaha, nah!"

Weiss was obviously less than amused, yet was powerless to stop Ruby from pulling her by the back out the door.

Weiss stuck her arms out fruitlessly trying to get back to Neptune, "But! But!"

 **XXX**

Yang, Skyler, and Neptune walked into the garage, where Yang's motorcycle, Bumblebee, was parked. Although they realized that it was a small motorcycle and tried deciding the order.

Yang was the driver, obviously, but neither Neptune nor Skyler wanted the back seat. Neptune suggested Rock, Paper, Scissors, but Skyler suggested something else.

"How about whoever can come up with the stupidest idea?" Skyler said.

"That idea is stupid," Neptune said.

"Is that your answer?"

Neptune shrugged, "Fine. That's my answer."

"Very well," Skyler then said, "Here's mine..."

He leaned in, "Card games... on motorcycles."

Neptune flinched, "...Screw it, you win."

Skyler gave a fist pump, "Yes!"

They got on Bumblebee and Yang took off, Neptune barely able to hang on.

 **XXX**

 **Sorry for the short chapter, but the real stuff doesn't start until next chapter. And since (spoiler alert) Skyler will be absent from the second half of the giant mech fight, I've included something else that I've tied into this story. Also, that motorcycle is the only Bumblebee I will ever support. Till next time guys!**


	14. Chapter 13: Painting the Town

**Chapter 13: Painting the Town**

"Guess who's back?!" Yang grinned when she walked into Junior's club...

...and was greeted by guns pointed at her face.

"Yeah, so could you define 'friend' for me?" Neptune asked Yang.

"Stop, stop!" a voice rang out, "Nobody shoot!"

A bearded man in a tux, Junior, cut through the crowd, "Blondie, you're here! ...Why?"

"You still owe me a drink," Yang grabbed Junior's arm and dragged him to the bar.

"Whoa..." Neptune watched her go, "What a woman..."

Skyler raised an eyebrow, but Neptune's attention was then directed to two girls, Junior's henchwomen, Melanie and Miltia. Skyler wasn't sure why he felt happy about Neptune's attention diverting from Yang.

"Sup?" Neptune said to the twins.

The two huffed and walked away, "Whatever..."

 **XXX**

By the time Neptune and Skyler got over to Yang and Junior, Yang was pretty much done interrogating.

"I don't know!" Junior said.

"How can you not know?!" Yang pushed.

"I haven't talked to him! I haven't even seen him since the night you and your boyfriend first came in here!"

"Skyler's not my boyfriend!" Yang protested, her face growing red.

"The point is, he paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever. Came. Back."

Neptune zoomed over, slamming his fist on the bar, "So where did they go?!"

Junior stared at him, "What kind of stupid question is that?! They never came back!"

He turned to Yang, "Who is this guy?"

"Don't worry about him," Yang pushed Neptune away, "Worry about _me_ if I don't find out what I want!"

"I already told you everything! Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them..."

He turned to his men, "Which is something I can relate to!!"

Yang sighed and turned back to Skyler and Neptune, "Come on guys."

"We get everything we need?" Neptune asked.

"Well, we got everything we can," Yang answered, "Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck."

"Great," Skyler said as he, Neptune, and Yang walked out of Junior's club, "What do we do now?"

"Well," Yang gave a knowing grin, "There is one more place..."

 **XXX**

When Skyler saw the place, he groaned, "Another club? Why am I not surprised?"

"Just trust me on this?" Yang asked.

"...Fine. Let's get this over with."

And they approached the club, there was a sign, simply labeled above the door _Seventh Heaven_.

"Oh dear Lord," Skyler covered his face, "This place..."

"What? You know this place?" Neptune asked.

"Know it? Yang destroyed it."

They walked up to the bouncer, who looked at the three and said, "Hold up. Let me see some ID."

Skyler smirked, "Certainly. Yang?"

Yang let out a chuckle and cracked her knuckles. The next thing the bouncer knew, he was punched straight through the door. Everyone inside began to panic and run as Yang entered. Everyone except the female bartender.

Neptune was about to walk in too, but Skyler stopped him, "Hey! What gives?"

"I think we should let Yang handle this. Plus..."

Skyler glanced at the bartender, "That lady's giving me a bad vibe."

Neptune looked at the lady, whose name tag read, 'Tifa Lockhart', "...Yeah. I'm getting that vibe too."

Apparently Yang didn't.

"Hello!" Yang called out to everybody, "No need to panic people, I'm just looking for someone."

Yang stopped at the bar, "I will take a Strawberry Sunrise though! No ice. Thanks!"

The bartender, Tifa, just glared, vaulted over the bar, and said, "Sorry miss, I think you better turn around and look elsewhere."

Tifa balled her fists and got into a fighting position. Yang activated Ember Celica and did the same.

"So... Does this mean no sunrise?"

The two charged at one another. Right before they collided, Skyler could've sworn he heard a deep voice say "Fight!", but that was probably his imagination.

Tifa's kick collided with Yang's punch. Yang charged forward and tried getting Tifa with her gauntlets, but Tifa was able to counter and avoid her blows. Tifa charged a fire punch that blew Yang forward. Tifa then charged up some kind of ice and Yang saw the ice surrounding her.

Tifa released her ice projectile and Yang dodged it. The two continued to exhange punches with each other.

"Having fun?" Yang asked in the middle of it all, "I sure am!"

Their punches collided with fire charged and Tifa grimaced, "Don't mock me!"

Tifa punched Yang forward and tried kicking her, but Yang grabbed her foot. Tifa kicked her down with the other leg. Yang charged forward using her shotgun gauntlets and punched Tifa down.

Tifa got up and Yang got the upper hand on her and punched her towards a mirror that shattered upon her impact. While on the mirror Tifa noticed her Premium Heart behind the bar counter as Yang tried throwing a chair at her. Tifa grabbed the Premium Heart and picked up the bar counter.

"Okay, brat," Tifa said, "Warmup's over!"

She tossed the counter at Yang, who managed to shoot the counter down into multiple pieces.

Tifa equipped the Premium Heart, "I'm going to blow you out of the water!"

She froze Yang and then fire punched her, "Take this!"

Yang was knocked through the wall to another section of the bar and Tifa jumped after her. Skyler and Neptune both looked at each other and rushed to the hole in the wall to continue watching.

"Had enough?" Tifa asked mockingly.

Yang got up, part of her face bleeding and her hair glowing, and quickly reloaded her gauntlets.

"Not even close."

Tifa started firing multiple fire shots at Yang, who dodged them. Yang retaliated with multiple explosive bullets that Tifa avoided. Tifa tried launching an ice attack at Yang, prompting Yang to launch herself in the air with her gauntlets, resulting in more close quarters combat.

Tifa gets the upper hand by feinting, and slammed Yang into the air and back down, "You're going down!"

As Yang got up, Tifa prepared a large ice projectile, "Don't move!"

Tifa launched it forward and Yang punched it through and shattered it. The shards knocked Tifa back and wounded her. Slightly bleeding on her side, Tifa started powering up.

"All right," she said, "Let's see if you can keep up with this!"

Tifa charged forward and uses Beat Rush and Water Kick, which were blocked by Yang. Yang staggered after Tifa performed Somersault, allowing her to use Meteodrive, Dolphin Blow, and Meteor Strike successfully.

"Here it goes!" Tifa yelled as she threw Yang onto the ground where she exploded.

Yang got up dizzily, "Ugh, did I just explode?"

Then she noticed a strand of her own hair fall to the ground. Skyler noticed too and now looked legitimately scared.

"Uh oh..." he said.

"What?" Neptune asked.

"If there's one thing I've learned about Yang in all my years of knowing her..."

Tifa unleashed her ultimate attack, "Final Heaven!!"

Yang was engulfed in a large explosion as the hair piece hit the ground. Then she spread the fire from the explosion away from her.

"What in the world?!" Tifa exclaimed.

Yang bashed her fists together, her hair flying up, brighter than ever.

"...You do not, under any circumstances, _touch_ the hair."

She charged forward and shattered Tifa's Premium Heart. She unleashed several rounds and punches on Tifa.

"Like that?!" Yang yelled as she delivered one final punch.

Tifa fell to the ground, completely blacked out. Yang walked past her two friends and put on sunglasses.

"Nailed it."

"Was the fight really necessary?" Neptune asked.

"Nope," Skyler smirked, "But it sure was entertainingly awesome. Luckily, Yang didn't snap a neck again."

"What?"

"Nothing."

 **XXX**

Not two seconds after they got back on the bike, they received a call from Blake and Sun.

Blake: Everyone!! If you can hear me, we need back-

Sun: HEEEELLLLP!!! Big robot! And it's big! Really big! That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something!

"Where are you guys?" Yang asked.

Right on cue, behind them, the three saw Blake and Sun running through the street with a giant mech, a Paladin, hot on their heels before they both disappeared from view.

"HURRYYYY!!!" Sun screamed, both in person and on the Scroll.

"I think that was them," Neptune said.

"Yeah, no kidding Sherlock!" Skyler retorted, "Yang! Floor it!!"

Yang grinned, "On it!!"

"Waitwaitwait-!" Neptune was barely able to stay on Bumblebee before finally getting a grip.

 **XXX**

They were able to catch up and follow the mech suit on their ride, coming up next to it as it runs.

"We've gotta slow it down!" Yang yelled.

"Got it!" Neptune answered.

Neptune reached for his gun, but Roman noticed the trio on his sensors and crashed into a multitude of cars with the Paladin's strong bulk, sending them flying towards his chasers.

"Hold on!" Yang warned.

"Wuh-oh..." Skyler gulped, subconsciously clutching tighter onto Yang's stomach.

Yang swerved, leaning her bike to the side in avoidance of flying debris while Neptune flailed in a panic. Back on two wheels again, Neptune unslung his weapon, aimed as sparks start flying, and fired several bolts of blue electricity at the Paladin, causing Roman to grimace from the force of the attacks.

"Yang!" Skyler said, "Get in front of it! I need to get a clear shot!"

"On it!"

Yang drove up along next to it and Skyler got out his weapon in sword form while Neptune transformed his gun into basically an electric spear. The two jumped off, landing on the mech and stabbing it. Sun and Blake paused in their car-hopping to look back.

"Guys!" Sun yelled, "Hang on!!"

Closing his eyes, Sun smashed his palms together, and from the golden Aura around him, his Semblance created two glowing outlines that copied their creator, leaping off and going back over the tops of vehicles and collided into the Paladin's front.

They exploded into blinding light upon contact to let Sun leap forward with his staff held high, but Roman finally turned enough to send Neptune and Skyler flying off and knocking into Sun, sending all three of them off the highway.

Skyler thought quickly and grabbed Sun and Neptune's collars with each arm and caught his weapon with his feet by the handle, the blade facing the ground. Using his feet, he pulled the trigger and the fire slowed the fall. They landed on the ground in a heap.

"Wow," Neptune admitted, "That was pretty cool."

"Agreed," Sun replied.

"I never thought I would be able to impress myself," Skyler agreed.

 **XXX**

A few minutes later, they were at a street vender nearby, having tea.

"Do you think the girls are alright?" Neptune asked.

"Eh, don't worry," Skyler waved off, "If there's one thing I've learned from those four, it's that they can more than take care of themselves."

"Agreed," Sun said, and he and Skyler fist-bumped.

 **XXX**

 **And that's done! Next up, a long awaited cat fight between Weiss and Hazel. Till next time guys!**


	15. Chapter 14: Extracurricular

**Chapter 14: Extracurricular**

After a good old rousing round of beating up Team CRDL, Pyrrha Nikos stood victorious.

"And that's the match," Glynda said.

"Lucky shot..." Cardin muttered before passing out.

"Well done, Miss Nikos," Glynda commended, "You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

"Thank you, professor," Pyrrha nodded.

"Atta girl, P-Money!" she heard Skyler cheer.

Glynda, tapped her scroll, "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match."

Glynda looked around at the observing students, ignoring Weiss and Hazel's outstretched hands (those two seemed _way_ too eager), "Any volunteers? Ms. Belladonna?"

Blake slammed her book shut and stared wide-eyed at Glynda, who said, "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-"

"I'll do it."

Everyone turned to see Mercury with his hand up.

"Mercury, was it?" Glynda asked, "Well, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually," Mercury cut in, "I wanna fight..."

He pointed at Pyrrha, "Her."

"Me?" Pyrrha asked, surprised.

"I'm afraid Ms. Nikos has just finished the match," Glynda stated, "I recommend you choose another partner."

"No, it's fine!" Pyrrha put in, "I'll be happy to oblige."

Mercury strutted into the arena, visibly sizing up Pyrrha. Their spar began when he made the first attack and was knocked down. Recovering quickly, he deflected an attack and began trading blows with Pyrrha until she knocked him back with her shield.

Ruby turned toward Emerald sitting behind her.

"Hey, your friend's doing pretty good," Ruby complimented.

Emerald gave a fake smile and then rolled her eyes as Ruby turned her back. Skyler, meanwhile, watched the fight with curiosity. It was clear to him that Mercury was not giving it his all. More like he was trying to find out how Pyrrha fought. Then he would go in for the real attack.

But to everyone's surprise, he didn't. Mercury just turned to Glynda as Pyrrha charged at him.

"I forfeit."

Pyrrha gasped and stumbled to a stop, "You... don't even want to try?"

"What's the point?" Mercury shrugged, "You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart."

That wasn't the reason and Skyler knew that. He was testing her. He was waiting for the tournament to show her how he fought. He was learning.

"In that case..." Glynda said, "Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match... again."

Emerald smirked and Mercury smiled smugly. Pyrrha had a annoyed and disappointed look on her face, and placed her left hand on her hip. The Aura displays for Pyrrha and Mercury were shown as Mercury's was changed from green to red, indicating his loss.

"Next time you might want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent," Glynda advised a bit harshly.

"I'll be sure to do that," and Mercury returned to his seat.

"Because of that rather short battle," Goodwitch said, "We still have time for one more match. Any volunteers?"

Weiss and Hazel immediately raised their hands. Glynda sighed.

"Very well," she said, "Ms. Schnee, Ms. Tikal, you've been patiently waiting, so why not? Next up, Ms. Weiss Schnee vs. Ms. Hazel Tikal."

Weiss and Hazel went to prepare for the most likely intense battle. It was the longest thirty seconds of the students' lives. You could cut the tension with a knife when the two stepped into the arena.

"How much do you want to bet that one of them gets killed?" Yang joked.

"Are you kidding?" Dante replied, "I hope one of us doesn't die just by watching!"

"Okay, I'm a bit new at this whole Weiss and Hazel thing," Jaune brought up, "So, can anyone explain it to me?"

"Oh yeah," Skyler said, "Hazel lived in a poor neighborhood in Mistral that was demolished a few years back because the Schnee Dust Company wanted to build a new factory. And one day, after the whole docks incident, Hazel confronted her about it. Let's just say Weiss' response was the opposite of apologetic."

"The two have been at it since," Walker finished, "And something tells me this is where it'll all come to a head."

"Match begin!" Glynda announced.

Weiss made the first move. Using a glyph, she zoomed forward, ready to stab. Hazel sidestepped it, using her spear to parry Weiss' rapier down. The was a second of silence with the two girls glaring daggers at each other.

Finally, the two began moving again. They stabbed furiously at one another, but when both weapons were more meant for stabs, it was hard to get a hit. Though Hazel did get more hits on Weiss simply because her spear had a longer reach. When the two stopped, they skidding back, still glaring.

The hilt on the rapier rotated and Weiss stabbed the ground, ice crystals sprouting from the ground in front of her. Able to predict it, Hazel pointed her spear at the ceiling and fired her tip at it. She flew up before the shards could even reach her. Weiss looked up in surprise to see Hazel hanging from the ceiling.

Hazel then planted her feet on the ceiling and pushed off. Redirecting her spear at Weiss, she flew straight at the Ice Queen. Weiss reacted quickly, jumping back before Hazel hit. Hazel stabbed the ground where Weiss once was, creating a small crater.

Hazel looked up and unlodged her spear from the floor. Weiss slid towards her, but Hazel pointed her tip at Weiss and fired. Weiss dodged, smirking, but then realized what Hazel was then doing. She was swinging her spear to Weiss' right, causing the rope to wrap around the Schnee heiress.

Weiss struggled to get free, but Hazel then stopped and began to swing Weiss through the air and, finally, into the wall, creating a dust cloud. Weiss stumbled out, struggling to stand.

"Is that all Ice Queen?" Hazel smirked, "I expected a bit more."

Weiss sneered, a glyph appearing behind her. Her rapier glowed white as the hilt rotated. Weiss flew at Hazel at top speed, ready to stab. But Hazel's smirk didn't fade. Using her Semblance, she saw what Weiss was going to do. And she acted upon it.

Just before Weiss got to her, Hazel stepped away, holding her spear perpendicular to Weiss. Weiss' eyes widened but it was too late to stop. Weiss was clotheslined by the spear and fell to the ground, her aura going into the red.

"And that's the match," Glynda announced.

SHDW cheered while Ruby and Yang clapped, the last two a bit bummed that Weiss lost, but still got to see an awesome fight. Weiss shook her head and looked up to see Hazel.

Hazel sighed, but nevertheless reached her hand out. Weiss stared at her, a bit confused, but took the hand. Hazel helped her up.

"Don't get me wrong," Hazel told her with a bit of a grin, "I still don't like you."

Weiss smirked back, "Likewise."

 **XXX**

As everyone walked out of the arena, Skyler saw Sun run up to Blake. Skyler flinched a bit at what he asked.

"So I hear that there's this dance going on this weekend," he asked, "And it sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?"

"What?" Blake replied.

"The dance! This weekend! You wanna go, or what?"

Oh crap. Too late now. Skyler figured he'd lost his chance. But to everyone's surprise...

"I don't have time for a stupid dance," Blake growled, "I thought you of all people would get that."

Skyler stared at her as she walked away. He should've felt happy, but... he didn't. Instead, he was worried. Sun had a better chance with Blake than Skyler did, but he was still rejected. It was at that point he realized just how obsessed she was.

He ran into Blake again when he was going back to his room. She was heading towards the library and he just happened to pass by.

"Hey Blake," he greeted.

"Back off," Blake snapped, not even glancing at him.

It was at that moment Skyler realized that she needed serious help. He hadn't seen someone so obsessed with something since... well, Yang. He remembered that incident when they were kids and shivered. Good thing Qrow had followed them.

Then he turned the corner and saw Jaune at RWBY's door. Skyler face-palmed. That freaking idiot. He had a guitar and was singing, asking Weiss to the dance.

"Are you done?" Weiss asked.

"Yes?" Jaune shrugged.

"No," and Weiss shut the door.

Skyler walked by Jaune, grabbing him by the back of his shirt, "You. Me. Talk. Now."

They turned a corner and Jaune asked, "Okay... What's up?"

"Serious question here," Skyler asked, "Why do you bother? With Weiss?"

"Because... well, because..."

"Exactly. Weiss is not interested. Your smooth talk and guitar playing ain't gonna win her over. And since you've done it so many times, I doubt she's gonna say yes even if you acted like yourself."

"But, Weiss... she's..."

"I get it. You have a crush on her. That's something I understand. But there's also something called 'other options'. She's not the only girl in the school. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a girl with a crush on you right now."

"Wait, really?"

Skyler smirked, though he was not going to give away Pyrrha's secret, "Jaune, you may be thick-headed, but your heart is in the right place. You're a good guy Jaune. Don't waste your effort on Weiss."

Jaune looked down, a bit crestfallen, but also a bit hopeful, "Okay...I'll try."

"That's the way!" Skyler clapped him on the back, "Now get up to the roof. You have a training session to get to."

"Wait, you know about that?!"

"Dude, it's impossible not to know. See you later Jaune!"

Skyler was not going to go into the rumors that had started because people had seen the two go to the rooftop... together... at night... or how some students already have a ship name for the two.

 **XXX**

 **Okay, that's done! I hope you guys liked the Hazel and Weiss fight, because I had fun with it! Other than that, not very eventful chapter. And the next chapter will be even less eventful! Till next time guys!**


	16. Chapter 15: Burning the Candle

**Chapter 15: Burning the Candle**

Yang had assured everyone that Blake will be at the dance, but Skyler was less than optimistic about that. He highly doubted his hotheaded best friend would be able to talk some sense into Blake. Then again, Yang has surprised him before.

Skyler was currently at the library, doing his research on Dust, when he heard someone sit beside him. He glanced and saw Blake get on the computer and type.

"Oh! Hey Blake," he greeted.

Blake didn't even look at him. She just stared at the monitor.

"At least you aren't being mean," Skyler muttered, looking back at his monitor, "That's an improvement... I guess."

Blake continued to ignore him. For a second, Skyler thought about asking her to the dance, but then immediately shot that idea down. He had not forgotten about what happened with Sun.

So he just sat there for a few minutes, kinda awkwardly, trying to ignore the fact that his crush was sitting next to him. Plus the fact that said crush kinda seemed to hate everyone at the moment. Then he got to witness quite an amusing scene.

A red dot from a laser pointer appeared on Blake's screen. Skyler glanced at it, confused. Then he remembered that Blake was half-cat. The situation explains itself.

Skyler tried his hardest not to give a response to anything that was happening. Finally, getting frustrated, Blake snapped and got up, following the laser pointer.

Skyler returned to his dorm shortly after, dying of laughter nearly the entire way.

 **XXX**

 _After Yang's Intervention with Blake_

As Blake walked down the hallway back to her dorm, she just so happened to pass by Team SHDW's dorm. She stopped for a moment and pondered. She didn't want to do what she was thinking of, but it needed to be done. Finally, she knocked.

Skyler was the one who answered. You could imagine his shock when he saw Blake standing there.

"Blake?!" he asked, "What're you doing here?"

"I... I need to talk to you... alone," she replied.

"Oh, um, okay... Come right in. My teammates decided to go to the library."

"Thanks."

Blake sat down on one of the beds and looked around at the random posters and such on the wall (one of the posters had the title 'Red vs. Blue' on it). Skyler sat down on the bed parallel to her's.

"Okay..." he asked, a bit nervous, "What did you want to talk about?"

Blake was silent for a second. This was a lot harder than she thought it would be.

"Well... I'll just... skip right to the point," she said, "...I know you have a crush on me."

Skyler flinched, his face suddenly becoming red in an instant, "Uh... Umm..."

Blake let out a small laugh, "Yeah... You aren't as sneaky about is as you might think you are."

"So I've been told," Skyler groaned, covered his face, and muffled, "And?"

"Well... I just... well..."

"Don't feel the same?"

Blake jumped, a bit startled that he guessed right, "Um... yeah..."

Skyler looked down in disappointment, "Ugh... I was hoping it wasn't that, but I figured it was... That's my luck in a nutshell."

"It can't be that bad."

"Why'd you come here then?" he asked, a hint of anger in his voice, "To rub it in? Just to get it off your chest?"

"Definitely not the former... But I won't lie... It is more of the latter."

Skyler sighed, "Great..."

Blake put a hand on his leg, "Skyler, don't get me wrong. You're a great guy and anyone would be lucky to have you. But I just don't... feel it, you know?"

Skyler sighed, "Yeah... I get it."

"Could we at least still be friends?"

That was the question Blake dreaded a bit. She was afraid of what the answer would be. He was a good guy, and she didn't want him to think that she wanted nothing to do with him.

Skyler then smiled a bit, "Yeah. That could work."

Though a bit startled at the response, Blake smiled back, "Don't worry. Someone will come along. They always do."

Blake got up and walked to the door, "Or maybe they already have and you just haven't seen them."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Blake grinned, "Man, she was right. You are dense."

"Who?! What are you talking about?!"

Blake laughed on the way out the door and back to her room.

"Blake?! Blake!! BLAKE!!!"

 **XXX**

Skyler arrived at the dance early. Almost nobody was around, other than Yang and a few miscellaneous other students and teachers.

"You're here early!" Yang greeted at the reception desk.

"Figured I come here early than get here late," Skyler replied with a shrug.

"Wait, do you not have a date?" Yang asked.

"Nah. Blake's already told me she's not interested, so... yeah. Thought about asking Pyrrha, but I wanted to see if Jaune's not gonna be an idiot for once."

"Ah," Yang said, depressed that Skyler didn't consider her.

"Are you okay?" Skyler asked, noticing her mood.

"What?! Yeah! I'm fine!"

Skyler didn't seem to believe her, but Yang quickly changed the subject, looking behind him, "Ruby! Ooohh, you look beautiful!

Skyler looked behind him. Ruby groaned as she looked distressed in her red dress with black lace, belt, and pumps.

"Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" Ruby said, trying to maintain her balance as she walked to the podium, much to her laughing sister's amusement.

Skyler walked over to the punch bowl and poured himself a glass. He drank with a smile as more people came in. He had a feeling that this was gonna be a fun night.

 **XXX**

 **More than you think! Till next time guys!**


	17. Chapter 16: Dance Dance Infiltration

**Chapter 16: Dance Dane Infiltration**

Dance night! And Skyler was alone. Honestly, he wasn't surprised. After his talk with Blake, he had pretty much given up. Now he was sitting in a chair near the punch bowl, Ruby nearby, drinking punch. He had expected to have fun anyway, but nothing eventful had happened yet.

After a few minutes, Jaune walked up and stood next to Ruby, "I see you're hiding at the punch bowl too."

"Yep," she replied.

Jaune raised his glass, "To the socially awkward."

"I can drink to that," Skyler said as Ruby giggled and the three of them clinked their glasses together.

"Sorry things didn't work out with Weiss," Ruby said.

"Meh, it's fine," Jaune shrugged, "Neptune's pretty 'cool'. I get why she went with him.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Well, come on," Jaune replied, sipping his punch, "Not many people can pull off blue hair."

"Um, dude?" Skyler put in, "Weiss came to the dance alone."

Jaune choked in surprise, "Uh, what?"

"Yeah," Ruby said, "She said that she had too much to focus on to worry about boys."

Jaune then looked in the direction of Neptune. He was currently laughing it up with Sun and Blake. Jaune's eyes narrowed.

"Hold my punch," Jaune handed Ruby his cup and stalked in Neptune's direction.

Ruby watched him go for a bit before taking a sip out of his cup. Skyler then noticed Jaune change directions and go after Pyrrha. He smirked and Ruby sat down next to him.

"Why are you here alone anyway?" she asked him as she set the cups down.

"Well," Skyler replied, "After Blake rejected me, I guess I decided it was better to go alone than just stay in my dorm."

"Why didn't you ask anyone else?"

"Are you kidding? Who would want to go with me?"

"Yang," Ruby blurted, but then immediately slapped a hand over her mouth.

Skyler looked at her funny, "What?"

"Nothing!" Ruby squeaked.

"No, it wasn't. Did you say Yang?"

Ruby was silent for a moment before replying, "Yeah..."

"Why would she want to come with me?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! What do you mean?"

"Yang's been dropping hints like crazy. How have you not noticed?"

"Noticed what?!"

"Yang likes you!"

That shut him up, "...What?"

Ruby stuttered, "P-please don't tell her I said that!"

"She... likes me? Like... in a romantic sense?"

"Yeah."

Skyler then thought about it. His eyes then widened at all the signs. The constant blushing, the shows of affection, like bone-crushing hugs, stuttering, etc. Seriously, Yang could've kissed him on the cheek and he still wouldn't have gotten the clue. He threw his head back and covered his face.

"Ooooooh..." Skyler groaned, "I'm such an idiot..."

Ruby smiled, "Yeah, kinda."

"Now I know what it's like to be Jaune..."

Skyler was feeling extremely guilty. He had spent so much of his time focused on one girl that he didn't notice that there was the perfect one right in front of him. Oh man, he was Jaune! He glanced over at Yang and saw her sitting at a chair alone. Then, he suddenly began to feel feelings that he thought were long gone.

Skyler turned back to Ruby, "And you're sure she has romantic feelings for me?"

"She threatened me if I told..." Ruby admitted, "Please don't tell her I said it..."

Skyler stared at her, then smiled and ruffled her hair, "Don't worry, I won't."

He began to walk away, but then turned back, "And, Ruby? Thanks."

Ruby smiled, "No problem!"

Skyler walked over to Yang and sat down next to her, "Nice night, huh?"

Yang jumped a bit, "Oh! Skyler! I... didn't see you coming..."

"Yeah," Skyler replied, "You zoned out a bit?"

"Yeah..." Yang admitted.

"Why did you come alone? I would've thought that at least one guy would ask you."

"Well..." Yang scratched the back of her head, "There were a few guys... but I turned them down."

"Why?"

"You see... There's one guy I've got my eyes on, but..."

"He's been giving you the cold shoulder?"

"Exactly!"

"Sounds like a real jerk."

Yang smiled a bit, thinking that Skyler didn't know who she was talking about, "You know it. I've dropped hints, but he hasn't picked up on anything."

Skyler smirked. It felt strangely good to insult himself. He deserved every second of berating.

"So he's basically Jaune."

Yang thought about that, "You know... That's exactly it! He's another Jaune!"

They had a good laugh at that. Afterwards, they were silent for a bit. Skyler's ears picked up on the song playing and got up. Now was the time.

"You wanna dance?" he asked, holding out his hand.

Yang looked up at him, startled, "What?"

"You don't have a date, right?" Skyler grinned, "That means he won't kill me if I asked. So how about it?"

Yang stared up at him, completely dumbfounded, and slowly took his hand, "Y-yeah..."

Skyler pulled her onto the dance floor. After about a minute of this, he spoke.

"You know, I always thought that all your flirtations weren't actually genuine."

Yang stared at him, her eyes wide, "Wait... What did you say?"

Skyler smiled, "I said that that I've always thought that all your flirting wasn't genuine."

Yang's face went bright red. Did he know? Skyler kept going.

"Back at Signal, I used to have a crush on you, but I thought I had no chance considering that you flirted with every guy there. Until tonight, I thought I'd moved on."

Yang's face went even redder. He knew. And from the sound of things, he felt the same. However, she realized she was zoning out and only heard the end of Skyler's confession.

"-I should probably shut up now. I'm just embarrassing myse-Mph!"

Yang had grabbed him by the shirt collar, pulled him in, and kissed him. Though thoroughly surprised, it didn't take long for Skyler to recover and kiss back.

Once they separated, Yang hugged him tightly, "About time, you moron."

Skyler blushed a bit, but smiled. He turned his head and saw his teammates looking at him, all of them nodding with smiles on their faces. Skyler rolled his eyes. Then he saw Blake, who looked at him and winked. So this is what she meant...

Skyler smiled and silently thanked Ruby for opening his eyes. Speaking of, where was Ruby?

 **XXX**

"You know," Skyler said to Yang as they danced, "I don't think anything could surprise me more tonight."

Yang smiled, "Agreed."

Suddenly, they heard laughter. The two turned their heads and their jaws dropped.

"...Except for that," Skyler said.

It took a bit longer for Pyrrha to notice, but when she did, she saw..., "Jaune?"

There was Jaune... wearing a dress. Pyrrha wondered what on Remnant could have possessed him to make him do that. Then she remembered what he had said a few days ago.

Jaune smiled sheepishly, "A promise is a promise..."

Pyrrha stared at him in absolute shock before busting out laughing, "J-Jaune! You didn't have to!!"

"Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word. Now do you want to stand there and laugh at me," Jaune held out his hand, "Or do you want to dance?"

Without hesitation, Pyrrha took it, "I... would love to dance!"

Jaune pulled her close, surprising her, and pulled her onto the dance floor, while she giggled uncontrollably. Nora grinned at the sight.

"Ren!" she exclaimed, "This... is... HAPPENING!!!"

"Wait," Ren said, confused, "What is happening?"

Nora grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor with Jaune and Pyrrha. They all then performed a dance together to the current song: Shine.

"I had no idea you were a dancer," Pyrrha told Jaune.

"Well," Jaune replied, "That kinda happens when you grow up with seven sisters."

They kept dancing and Skyler and Yang couldn't find the strength to stop laughing and clapping.

"Why the heck would Jaune do that?!" Yang giggled, finally calming down a bit.

"I don't know," Skyler chuckled, "But if he and Pyrrha aren't going out after tonight, I don't know what I'm going to do with him."

"Speaking of going out, does that mean we are?"

Skyler gave her a funny look and said sarcastically, "What?? No! That kiss back there didn't mean a thing!!"

"Oh shut up!" Yang laughed, punching him in the arm, "You didn't need to be sarcastic about it."

"Okay then, want me to answer the question genuinely?"

Yang grinned, knowing where this was going, "Go ahead."

So Skyler kissed her again.

 **XXX**

 **And finally! The Yang and Skyler relationship has come!! I've been waiting so long to write it. Till next time guys!**


	18. Chapter 17: Field Trip

**Chapter 17: Field Trip**

Team SHDW walked into their room after the dance. They were currently discussing Skyler and Yang's relationship status.

"Remember the days when you were teasing me about Blake?" Skyler asked his team when they got back to the room.

"Yep," Walker said with a grin, "Wouldn't have imagined you and Yang."

"I've been waiting for it since Signal," Dante put in, "Her crush on you was obvious. You were just the only one who didn't see it."

"I get it, I get it," Skyler said, "I'm another Jaune."

"I'd never thought I'd see that comparison," Hazel admitted, "But it fits perfectly."

"So, did you guys go with anyone?" Skyler asked.

"Oh yeah," Hazel replied, "Dante asked me."

"Dante? Like, _our_ Dante? The one right here?"

"Har har har," Dante said, "Nobody asked her, so I thought I'd ask her so she wouldn't feel left out."

Skyler grinned a maniacal grin, "I hope you realize that karma shall be swift."

"What does that mean?" Hazel asked, before quickly realizing what he meant, "NO. You wouldn't..."

"You tease me about Blake," Skyler replied, "I tease about you two."

Hazel and Dante's faces went completely red. Whether it was out of anger or embarrassment, Skyler wasn't sure. Probably both.

"What about you Walker?" Skyler asked, "Did you go with anybody?"

"Nope," Walker responded, "Nobody really came to mind on who to ask."

"Dang it. I can't get back at you. Oh well. Can't win them all."

 **XXX**

The next morning, all of the students were called to the auditorium for an announcement. After passing by a bag drop station (Skyler could've sworn he saw one of those bags twitch), Team SHDW joined up with Teams RWBY and JNPR.

Glynda then stepped up, "Quiet! Quiet please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin."

Ozpin then made his announcement, "Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for.

"As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity.

"As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission.

"Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

Ozpin stepped away and as everyone filed out, Ruby got excited, "This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the southeast!

"Yeah!" Yang agreed, "We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip by night!"

She turned to Skyler, "Are you in?"

"Nah, I think me and my team will sit this one out," Skyler answered, "Someone's gotta stay and make sure the school's got extra defense. Plus, I think we've been lacking in the training department. Better safe than sorry."

"I guess he's got a point," Ruby shrugged.

"You girls stay safe!" Hazel gave a salute.

RWBY left to go to the mission board, Yang kissing Skyler on the cheek as she left. It was going to be an interesting few days.

 **XXX**

SHDW saw JNPR again later that day, while RWBY about to go on a mission with Profess- _Doctor_ Oobleck.

"Save the world?!" Nora gasped, being dramatic, "They're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt... sad! Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not they're fault, though, Ren...

Ren simply crossed his arms and turned away.

"Sounds exciting," Jaune said, "Are you guys going anywhere?"

"Nah," Dante answered, "We're just staying here to train some more."

"Team RWBY is going to be heading outside the kingdom," Walker brought up.

"Hey!" Nora responded, "So are we!"

"Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village," Pyrrha said.

"We set out tomorrow," Ren added.

"Well alright then," Skyler said with a smile, "Happy travels!"

 **XXX**

Minutes later, the two teams waved as RWBY's airship departed from the school.

"Bye girls!!" Walker yelled.

"Have fun finding the White Fang!!" Hazel added.

"Think they will?" Dante asked, still waving.

"It would take a miracle," Skyler answered before returning to the waving, "Buh-bye!!"

 **XXX**

 **I love references. Next up, I'm writing an original chapter, so it's gonna take a bit longer to finish. Plot points will come up! Maybe. Probably. Till next time guys!**


	19. Chapter 18: This One Goes to 19

**Chapter 18: This One Goes to 19**

Dummy after dummy fell, sliced in two. Skyler smirked. He was getting faster. With every round, Skyler cut through all the dummies slightly faster than the previous round.

Why was he training alone? Well, Hazel and Dante were doing their own spar in the arena, while Walker was in the library, studying up on different fighting techniques. So Skyler was here, having target practice.

"You know, you don't improve that much when you practice alone."

Skyler turned to see the green haired female exchange student watching him from the doorway. He caught his breath.

"Oh! Hey," he said, "You're... Emerald, right?"

"That's me," she answered, "Thought you and your team would take a mission."

"If I had a lien for every time I have been told that. Yeah, we just decided to train here. Can't leave the school undefended, right?"

"Right..." Emerald muttered, "Hey. Want to have a sparring match?"

"Dante and Hazel are using the arena right now, but we can go as soon as their done."

"Fine by me."

 **XXX**

Dante and Hazel were really going at it. The two were swiping at each other with their weapons, until finally, Hazel swung vertically down while Dante blocked by putting his axes in an X shape.

The two stared at each other intensely, trying to get an edge. Finally, Dante smirked, confusing her. Thanks to that momentary show of weakness, Dante swept his leg out, sweeping Hazel off her feet. When she looked up, she saw his axe pointed at her. She checked her aura bar, and sure enough, she was in the red.

Dante still had that smirk on his face as he put away his axes and offered a hand, "I win."

Hazel rolled her eyes, a faint blush on her face, "Whatever."

She grabbed his hand and he helped her up, "That was a fluke and you know it."

"Sure it was," Dante grinned, turning, "Now come on. I'm getting hungry. You up for lunch?"

Hazel was glad he had turned around, or else he would've seen the bright blush present on her face, "S-sure. Let's go."

 **XXX**

Walker in the meantime was studying his geology in the library. He already knew most about the four kingdoms and the world of Remnant, but he was more studying about the areas outside the kingdoms.

Those areas had always interested him. Most of the area outside the kingdom was unknown, due to constant Grimm attacks on anyone who dared venture out that far from safety. Walker wanted to become a Huntsman to try and learn more about these areas and to see if there could be any more places humans and Faunus could survive.

"Whatcha doing?"

Walker jumped at the unfamiliar voice. He turned to see a fellow female student there. She had brown hair, wore a brown beret, brown and black attire, and black sunglasses. The girl lowered her sunglasses, allowing Walker to see that she had dark brown eyes.

"Geez," he breathed, "You scared me half to death."

"At least it wasn't all the way to death," the girl joked, "Sorry about that. You looked like you were giving yourself carpal tunnel."

It was then Walker realized how close his face was to the screen, "Oh... right. Didn't notice that..."

He held out his hand, "Nice to meet you. I'm Walker Elliot."

The girl shook his hand, "Coco Adel."

"Wait," Walker said, recognizing her as he was shaking her hand, "Aren't you the leader of team CFVY?"

"That's me," Coco smirked.

"Oh wow," Walker suddenly got a bit nervous, considering he was talking to a second year student, "Didn't you guys just come back from a mission?"

"Yup. We were taking out Grimm in a sector of Vale."

"How did that go?"

Coco grimaced, "We're fine, but... There was just so many Grimm. We pulled out before things could get worse."

"Geez, if there are so much Grimm that even Team CFVY can't take down, I don't want to see them."

Coco laughed, "Yeah, well, I gotta get going. It was nice meeting you Walker."

"Likewise," Walker replied, watching her leave.

He found himself staring before shaking his head, 'No! No bad thoughts! Stop it Elliot! You are better than this!'

 **XXX**

Now that the arena was open, Skyler and Emerald stepped onto the floor and pulled out their weapons.

"Start now?" Emerald asked.

"Ready when you are," Skyler smirked.

Emerald grinned, twirling her pistols and pointing them at Skyler. She fired rapidly and Skyler began running, effectively dodging the bullets. He shot fire out of his weapon, causing her to stop shooting and backflip away.

She switched her pistols into blade mode and looped around the flames, preparing to slash. Skyler, in turn, switched to sword form and the two began clashing in a series of sparks. The two continued slashing, parrying each hit.

Skyler gritted his teeth. He began to wonder if he should've chosen a better weapon to fight with. Her weapons were curved, making attacks a bit harder to counter. Plus, if things kept going like this, Emerald would find it easier to disarm him.

But he wasn't going to give up that easily. They clashed again, both knocked back a few feet. Skyler activated the flames on his sword and charged. Emerald, though a bit shocked at the fire sword, countered, but was blown back by the extraordinary burst of power.

"Well that was unexpected," Emerald remarked.

"I get that a lot," Skyler replied, charging again.

The two began a series of slashes again, sparks flying. Emerald turned her weapons back into guns, shooting while retreating. Skyler blocked the shots, but then felt something wrap around his legs.

He looked down and saw a chain wrapped around his legs and then pull him off his feet. He landed flat on his back and saw Emerald swing him around and threw him across the arena. He was sent tumbling and he checked his Aura. Borderline orange. So close to red.

"Do you give up?" Emerald asked, noticing his fatigue.

Skyler smirked, "Give up? What's that mean?"

Skyler had one more shot at this. A plan formulated in his head and Emerald was inching closer, swinging her blades around by their chains. He pointed his blade to the ground and fired.

He shot up into the air, surprising Emerald. He let go of the trigger and sped towards the ground, straight at her. She jumped back, Skyler stabbing the ground as he landed. The flames spread out, covering the arena in dust.

Blinded by the dust cloud, Emerald could only wander, with the occasional cough. She shot when she heard something, but hit nothing. But then... sneak attack.

She was hit by a slash, but the figure was gone before she could react. Then just as fast, it struck again. Slash after slash hit her, Emerald unable to react fast enough. Finally, the dust cleared and she was stumbling. She then saw Skyler a few yards away, his flaming blade pointed at her.

"Hi there," Skyler said, pulling the trigger.

The amount of fire that shot out was too much for Emerald to dodge. When the flames stopped, she collapsed to the ground, Aura in the red.

"At that's the match," Skyler imitated Glynda, walking over and helping Emerald up.

"Remind me not to go easy on you during the tournament," Emerald grinned.

"Whatever," Skyler replied.

But from the way Emerald looked when she said that, Skyler couldn't help but get the feeling she was serious.

 **XXX**

Everyone arrived back at their dorm and collapsed on their beds.

"I feel like taking a nap for forever..." Dante groaned.

"Preach it," Hazel agreed.

"Man, I think I did get carpal tunnel for staring at that screen so long..." Walker grumbled.

"Let's just get some sleep," Skyler said, "We've got another day of training tomorrow."

"Good night all!" the team said simultaneously before passing out.

 **XXX**

 **And that's a wrap! Now for the finale of Volume 2! Till next time guys!**


	20. Chapter 19: Breach

**Chapter 19: Breach**

Skyler woke up to the sound of his Scroll buzzing. It was about 5:00 in the morning, so you could imagine the irritation. He groaned and lazily grabbed his Scroll. He checked the Caller ID and saw that it was Yang.

He answered, trying not to sound irritated that his girlfriend interrupted his beauty sleep, "Hello..."

Instead of an answer, he got loud static. Scared half to death, he nearly threw his Scroll across the room. He managed to catch it, but when he looked at the screen again, the call had ended.

"What the heck was that about?"

 **XXX**

"Yang called you?" Hazel asked when they were all up.

"Yeah," Skyler replied, "It was weird. All I got was static."

"Butt-dial maybe?" Dante shrugged.

"Could be," Skyler said, "Or maybe she couldn't get reception from where she was."

"Either way, I don't think you have to worry about anything," Walker put in, "Team RWBY can take care of themselves. They've proven that time and time again."

"I guess you're right..." Skyler said, still skeptical.

Then they heard an alarm go off in the city. They all looked out the window and saw some Nevermores flying around. Then an alarm went off in the school.

Without a moment's hesitation, Skyler turned to his teammates, "Grab your gear. We've got a city to save."

 **XXX**

After doing that, they managed to catch Team JNPR at the docking area and hopped on the airship with them. Once they got to the city, Nora jumped out, riding her hammer, and smashing a King Taijitu's head in.

Skyler looked down to see Team RWBY there, alone, fighting the Grimm army. The rest of JNPR jumped out, landing next to Nora, quickly followed by SHDW, who landed in front of Yang.

"Let's go!!" Skyler ordered, and his team attacked.

He turned to Yang, "I was wondering why you called me."

Yang just shrugged and grinned, "I was afraid I wouldn't get a message out to you."

Skyler grinned and the two attacked. As Skyler fought a horde of Beowolves, he saw Dante taking potshots at Nevermores and other Grimm while Hazel stood behind him, spearing any Grimm that dared to come too close, and Walker was walking through a bunch of Creeps, slicing them down.

Pretty soon, the Atlesian Air Fleet showed up and dropped androids around the city. The androids took out some of the Grimm, proving to be not completely useless.

Unfortunately, Skyler realized that he was paying more attention to his team than he was the battle. A Beowolf tackled him, raising its claws. Then the unexpected happened.

Out of the hole in the ground where the Grimm were coming from, a mech crawled out, but seemed out of commission. The a small black and white figure pounced out and knocked into the Grimm that had pinned Skyler down. And Skyler found himself face to face with a familiar, as well as adorable, black and white Corgi.

"Zwei!!" he exclaimed, recognizing Ruby and Yang's dog, and began petting him as Zwei licked his face, "Hey! Where'd you come from buddy?"

Zwei barked happily as another airship passed overhead. Skyler looked up to see another team in a ship. Team CFVY. They jumped out, taking out more Grimm.

Coco walked past Walker, who said, "I was wondering when you would show up."

"I'm surprised you're here and not burying your head in a computer," Coco retorted with a smirk, "Watch how the pros do it."

Coco approached a large Beowolf and said, "You just destroyed my favorite clothing store."

She spat on the ground, "Prepare to die."

The Beowolf attempted to slash her, but she knocked away the hand with her briefcase and kicked the Beowolf in the crotch. Walker grimaced, actually almost feeling bad for the Grimm as it fell to the ground. She then leaned down and slammed her bag onto its head, killing it.

She effortlessly swatted away more Beowolves, and the rest of Team CFVY resumed fighting. Velvet stepped forward, about to open her box, but Coco stopped her.

"Hey, come on," she said to her Faunus teammate, "You just spent all the semester building that up. Don't waste it here."

Walker watched in awe and shock as Coco's briefcase transformed into a mini gun. With it, she mowed down Grimm left and right, from Death Stalkers to Nevermores. Walker felt his jaw drop, now admittedly a bit lovestruck.

Soon, Glynda Goodwitch marched towards the hole in the street, effortlessly tossing aside Grimm that charged her. She pointed her wand at the hole and the debris around it shifted. And the street reassembled, as if nothing had ever happened.

 **XXX**

In the aftermath, Roman Torchwick was discovered to be the one behind the invasion. He was ushered onto a police ship by police, as well as Emerald and Mercury.

"Oh, I can't believe that you caught me, you've really taught me the error of my ways," Roman grumbled to the police as they pulled him harder, "Hey, watch the hat!"

Emerald and Mercury rejoined everyone soon after. Team JNPR was exchanging smiles, Sun and Neptune bumped fists, Team CFVY likewise smiled at each other, though Coco was resting her arm on Walker's shoulder.

Skyler grinned at that last bit, though he couldn't really say anything because Yang currently had her arm wrapped around him. A peaceful end to an eventful day.

 **XXX**

After everyone had gone back to Beacon, Skyler somehow found himself alone, walking to his dorm. He wasn't sure why he was alone, but he guessed that everybody who came back immediately went to bed, tired from the long day of fighting Grimm.

CAW!!!

Skyler jumped at the sound, a bit startled. He turned to a nearby bench and saw a bird staring at him. It looked to be a crow, maybe a raven. The bird stared at him, tilting its head, as if examining him.

"Umm..." Skyler said, confused as to why a bird was staring at him, "Hi?"

The bird cawed again before taking off. Skyler blinked a few times, wondering what the heck just happened.

"That was... weird..." he said to himself.

"Hey Skyler!!"

He turned just in time to see Yang running towards him. She tackled him with a hug, causing them both to fall to the ground.

"You're still here!" Yang exclaimed, not seeming to care they were on the ground.

"Yeah..." Skyler choked, "Yang..."

"Yeah?"

"Air!"

"Oh! Sorry!!"

She let go and they both got up, Yang apologizing, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"Yang, calm down!" Skyler chuckled, "Its fine! I like your hugs... Air is just kind of a priority."

"Right," Yang said, rubbing the back of her neck, "So what are you doing?"

"Just decided to take a walk. Not really as tired as everyone else. How about you?"

"Me and my team were about to go back to the dorm and go to sleep. But I spotted you and decided to come over and talk."

"As well as hug me to death?"

"Shut up!" Yang hit him on the arm as they both laughed, "You were the one who said you liked it."

"That's right, I did," Skyler offered his hand with a smile, "Walk back to the dorm with me?"

Yang took his hand, kissed him on the cheek, and grinned, "It would be my pleasure."

The two walked into the school, just enjoying each other's company. Meanwhile, the crow/raven watched them go from a lamppost. It cawed and flew away.

 **XXX**

 **And that ends the Volume 2 portion of the book! Stay tuned for Volume 3! Till next time guys!**


	21. Chapter 20: Round 1

**Chapter 20: Round 1**

 **I'm back!**

 **So... After watching Volume 4, I learned that one of the big bad Elite 4 villains' name was Hazel... The same name as one of my OCs... Now, I NEED your input on this. Do you want my Hazel to be somewhat connected with their Hazel, or just make a few jokes with this odd coincidence?**

 **But now, on with the chapter!**

 **XXX**

Skyler Yin skidded backwards across the ground of the battlefield, before he stopped, grinning. He was honestly having a bit of fun with this battle, maybe a bit too much. Oh man, was he turning into his girlfriend?!

Skyler gripped onto his sword tighter, facing his opponent, a gray haired opponent wielding the strange combination of a buster sword and spiked hammer, the leader of the opposing team.

Oh, I should probably mentioned what's currently happening. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Vytal Festival Tournament. This first round is the second fight shown in the tournament, this fight featuring Team SHDW (Shadow) of Beacon and Team ASTC (Astric) of Atlas.

The first fight had featured Team RWBY (Ruby) of Beacon and Team ABRN (Auburn) of Haven. Skyler and his team had watched Team RWBY's spectacular match, in awe of how far their friends (and girlfriend for Skyler) had come since the beginning, especially young Ruby Rose. But back to the match.

Skyler was currently facing off against ASTC's leader, Austin Tang. The guy was well built and his expression showed that he was becoming a bit arrogant. Skyler could use that as an advantage. He quickly monitored what his teammates were up to.

His partner, Hazel Tikal, was handling Selena Rustin, who had long brunette hair with an odd mix of purple stripes, and wielded twin scimitars with linings for Dust. Hazel seemed to be doing smoothly against Selena, though it was becoming difficult to keep up due to the different ranges the girls' weapons had.

Skyler's best friend, Dante Williams, was currently having a shoot-off with Tracy Smith, who had short black hair, and wielded dual pistols/knives. The two fighters seemed about equal in accuracy, but Dante's crossbow packed a bit more power to it than that of Tracy's pistols. Dante had the clear advantage against his male opponent.

That left the last team member, Walker Elliot, who was facing off against Caitlin Allen, herself wielding what appeared to be a cross between Walker's sword and Skyler's katana, seeing that it was double bladed, but the handle opened up at the bottom for Dust. But instead of wielding fire, like Skyler's, her weapon was currently specialized in ice. Walker seemed to be getting a disadvantage, due to that Ice Dust.

 **(Author's Note: If you watch the Flash show and know the ships in it, I really hope you get that last OC I made.)**

But back to Skyler's fight. Austin charged him, beginning to swing his blade. Skyler smirked, leaning a bit to the right and raising his sword. The two swords skidded across one another, sparks flying. As soon as Skyler's blade hit the hilt of Austin's, Skyler pulled the trigger.

There was a burst of flames, knocking Austin back and on his butt. He shook his head, trying to get back to his senses. But as Austin's vision cleared, he saw Skyler's foot just before it impacted his face. Austin's Aura went into the red, knocking him out of the match.

Skyler caught his breath and turned back to the others. Dante had finished off Tracy and was rushing to help out Hazel with Selena. Skyler grinned for a second at that, but turned and ran towards Walker, who was losing ground against Caitlin.

The female jumped and swung her sword down at Walker. But then Skyler arrived, blocking the blow with his own sword, setting off an explosion of fire and ice. Caitlin landed on her feet, skidding back. When she looked up, she saw Walker's sword in whip form wrap around her waist. With that, Walker swung her around until the whip unraveled and Caitlin was sent flying...

...Right into Selena, who had also been pushed back by Hazel and Dante. The two remaining members of ASTC collided, stumbling a bit. SHDW regrouped and Walker turned to Skyler.

"Flame Tornado?" he asked.

Skyler grinned, "My pleasure."

Skyler switched his weapon back into gun mode and aimed while Walker raised his hands and activated his Semblance. A large burst of air came out of Walker's hands like a tornado as Skyler pulled the trigger. The fire and air swirled together, just as the combo attack's name would suggest.

 **(Author's Note: Yes, Walker is basically an airbender.)**

Needless to say, Selena and Caitlin were pretty screwed. Next thing SHDW knew, the buzzer went off, signaling ASTC's defeat.

Another thing that's needless to say: There were high fives and fist bumps all around.

 **XXX**

A few minutes later, the team was chowing down at a vender in the courtyard, slurping on noodles. But it also wasn't long before they were interrupted, though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing considering.

"Skyler!!"

Next thing SHDW's leader knew, his girlfriend, Yang Xiao Long, tackled him in a hug. Nearly knocked him off his seat, in fact.

"Hey!" Skyler laughed, surprised, but not complaining, "How are you girls doing?"

"We're doing quite nice," Weiss Schnee answered.

"We just wanted to congratulate you guys on your victory," Blake Belladonna added.

"And we're also starving!" Ruby exclaimed, "Can we join you guys?"

"I don't see why not," Dante smiled.

Yang sat down and ordered, "I'll have a bowl of the regular, please."

Yang was passed a bowl of noodles, and Ruby stared at it, "Oohhh... I'll take the same."

Weiss looked concerned as she ordered, "Do you have anything with a low-salt-?"

She was passed a bowl of noodles, "Um... okay..."

Instead of saying anything, Blake merely gave a nod and smile to the Shopkeep, who returned the gesture as he rushed through one door of his shop and came out the other to leave a large bowl of noodles topped with fish in front of her. Blake's eyes lit up as she drooled over her order. While Weiss looked strangely at her teammate, she gladly offered her credit card to the Shopkeep.

"Aw, Weiss!" Yang said appreciatively, "What's the occasion?"

"Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round," Weiss smirked, but her joy was ruined when the card was flung back at her, and the annoyed Shopkeep pointed to his register as it beeps 'DECLINED', "What?! How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!"

"I don't know," Hazel said, "When was your last shopping trip?"

"Seriously?" Weiss glared.

"Sorry," Hazel grinned, "You make this too easy!"

As the two girls argued, Blake looked around panicked, and she attempted to slowly slide her bowl closer to herself before the Shopkeep disappeared with her food, causing the poor girl to slump over in defeat, "Nooo!!"

But a new voice said, "Maybe I could help?"

Everyone looked up to see Team JNPR, consisting of Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren, approach the stand.

Ruby flung her arms wide in delight, "Pyrrha!"

"Aw, you don't have to..." Yang replied.

"But she could!!" Blake spazzed.

"Looks like P-Money's living up to her name!" Skyler grinned.

Pyrrha laughed a bit, "Well, I think you all earned it after that battle."

"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked.

 **XXX**

Later on, the bowls were empty, and each student was either content with their meal or holding their stomachs sickly.

"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked.

"Of course!" Pyrrha said as the Shopkeep quickly gathers the bowls and vanishes, "It will give us energy!"

Nora simply gave a hearty belch. Jaune then groaned, splaying himself over the counter.

"If I barf, I'm blaming you," Jaune said sickly.

"Ooh!" Nora grinned evilly, "Aim at the enemy!!"

"Nora, that's disgusting," Ren scolded, "But if you do feel the urge..."

Jaune gave a weak thumbs-up, "Got it."

Pyrrha stood up from her stool, "Well, we should be off."

"So," Walker asked, "You think you guys are ready?"

"Of course!" Nora said, gesturing to each of her teammates, "We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one's basically ninja, I can bench five of me... Jaune! We trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!"

Ren turned to Jaune, "Are you gonna take that?"

Jaune shook his head, "She's not wrong."

"Come on dude," Dante said, "Give yourself some credit."

"I'm kidding!" Nora said, "He knows I'm kidding."

As Nora began talking quickly, the color on her face slowly drained away as she got more worried, "Don't be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, that is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!!"

Her mad laughter turned into sobs as she slammed her head on the counter.

Ren looked unperturbed, "So, yeah... We're feeling pretty good."

Pyrrha put her hands on Jaune and Nora's shoulders, "Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and not, well... murderers."

"Yeah, don't sweat it," Yang assured, "We've all faced way worse before.

"Let's see," Blake counted off the threats on her fingers, "Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath..."

"And that's all while were still in training!" Ruby got excited, "Oh, imagine what it would be like to graduate!"

"Yeah," Hazel agreed, "We're gonna be even more awesome!"

Weiss sarcastically mumbled to herself, "Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal."

Suddenly, the intercom system began crackling.

 _Port: Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately?_

 _Oobleck: Yes! Like they were scheduled to,_ several _minutes ago!_

"Well, it looks like this is it," Pyrrha nodded.

Team JNPR walked away, Nora still depressed and Jaune looking queasy.

"Good luck!" Skyler called out.

"Go get 'em!" Ruby cheered.

 **XXX**

 **Since next chapter in the real show barely showed anything other than Team JNPR and Team SSSN's fights, I won't be including those fights, and focus on off-screen occurrences. That's right, another original chapter. But I think it's about time to include some of my friend's characters. Trust me, these guys are an... interesting bunch. Till next time guys!**


	22. Chapter 21: New Challengers

**Chapter 21: New Challengers**

After Team JNPR's battle, there was a short thirty minute intermission before the next match would begin. So Skyler and Dante decided to just walk around the courtyard, and just point things out and talk. They were childhood friends after all, and they haven't had a lot of time for just the two of them since school started.

But currently, Skyler had brought up the topic of Hazel, and Dante became an awkward mess. It didn't take a genius to see that Dante and Hazel had a thing for each other. And Skyler was using that to his advantage.

After the school dance, Skyler learned that his partner and best friend had went together, he decided to get a little payback for their teasing of him. And from the way they reacted to Skyler's teasing made it all the more easier. In fact, Skyler noticed that his teasing seemed to _progress_ the two's relationship. The two slowly grew closer with each passing day.

Skyler was beginning to think if this is what other people saw before he and Yang starting dating. But back to the conversation...

"For the thousandth time," Dante denied, cheeks fiery red, "Me and Hazel do not like each other!!"

"Sure, sure," Skyler rolled his eyes, smirking.

"Stop that!!"

"Stop what?"

"That look! The snark! You do that every time we deny it!!"

"I told you karma would be swift. I'm just saying. Besides, you two are almost always never away from each other. And don't think I've missed the sideways glances and the blushing. You two aren't exactly the most discreet of individuals. Why can't you just give in and hook up?"

"Didn't it take you years to hook up with Yang when she was doing the exact same thing?"

"True. But you know what the difference between us is? I never denied my feelings. You are."

Dante glared, unable to come up with a retort, "Ugh..."

"Skyler, one point, Dante, zero points," Skyler smirked.

"Hey! I want a point!"

Unfortunately, they were so caught up in their conversation/argument, that they bumped into two people, nearly knocking everyone over.

"Crap!!" Skyler swiftly apologized, "Sorry about that!! We weren't looking where we were going!"

The people they bumped into were a male and a female. The male had white hair, yellow eyes, and had on black, crimson, and yellow attire. The female had scarlet hair, blue eyes, and wore scarlet and black attire. The guy seemed like the 'Mr. Serious' type of guy, while the girl seemed to be a bit more laid back. But the one thing that they had in common was that they both seemed... mysterious. Skyler would bet anything that there was more to them than met the eye.

"Yeah, no kidding," the female grumbled.

"Now now Brittany," the male answered, "Be nice. They didn't mean to."

"Whatever Nathan," Brittany rolled her eyes, before looking Dante up and down and getting a... hungry look, "Helloooooo. You doing anything tonight?"

"Umm..." Dante paled, not sure what to make of the situation.

"I haven't seen you two around here before," Skyler said, purposefully saving Dante from the awkwardness, and stuck out his hand, "I'm Skyler Yin and this is Dante Williams."

"Skyler..." Nathan said with an odd sense of familiarity in his voice, but shook Skyler's hand nonetheless, "Nice to meet you. I'm Nathan and this is Brittany."

"Hello again~," Brittany said, still giving that hungry look, now to the both of them.

"So, I'm guessing you're here for the tournament?" Dante asked, trying oh so hard to ignore that look.

"If you must know, yes," Nathan answered, "We're here for the tournament. We chose our other two teammates to compete in the doubles round."

"Where are you guys from?" Skyler asked.

"Atlas," Brittany said, "It's nice over there, despite all the protocol."

"Protocol?" Skyler replied, genuinely confused, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Our business is our own," Nathan glared, but also sent a warning look to Brittany, "We'd prefer if you'd stay out of it."

"Geez, okay," Skyler raised his hands in compliance, "Just a question."

"A personal one," Nathan continued glaring, "We hail from Atlas. That's all you need to know."

Skyler couldn't help but glare back. There was just something about these two that he didn't like. Aside from the obvious Brittany-Stare both he and Dante were getting. They were reserved, but not in the way Blake was when they first met. These two were, for lack of better words, cruel about it. Skyler didn't really like these guys.

"Yeah, whatever," Dante said, clearly feeling the same way as Skyler, "We better get going. Our teammates are probably wondering where we are."

"Yeah," Skyler agreed, "Let's go Dante."

"Nice meeting you~!" Brittany slightly sang as she and Nathan turned and left.

As Skyler and Dante went back to their dorm, Dante stated, "Was it just me, or were those two... odd? Like, in a bad way."

"It's not just you," Skyler replied, "And something tells me we haven't seen the last of them."

 **XXX**

"Must you be so lecherous with _every_ guy we meet?" Nathan asked Brittany.

"Why?" Brittany grinned, "You jealous?"

"Of course not," Nathan rolled his eyes, "It just gets annoying."

"Whatever. So, that was that Skyler guy, huh?"

"Correct. Not at all what I expected from what I read from that archive. Not only that, but he seems... different."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brittany was now genuinely curious.

"I'm not entirely sure. Something about him seems... out of place. I don't know how to explain it. Let's just get back with Edward and Elizabeth."

"Whatever. Keep being ominous for all I care."

Brittany then grinned and took another stab at teasing her friend, "But that Skyler guy's got _quite_ the katana."

"Brittany!!"

 **XXX**

 **If your wondering about those two, full details on who they are are on H20Flame's account on Wattpad. They're very interesting characters. But for here on Team SHDW, it's certainly not the last we've seen of Team EBNE. But for next time, we meet everyone's favorite drunk uncle! Till next time guys!**


	23. Chapter 22: It's Brawl in the Family

**Chapter 22: It's Brawl in the Family**

After the Team SSSN vs. Team NDGO fight, everyone began leaving the stadium for the day. Team RWBY and Team SHDW began to leave their seats, but then a ribbon-adorned craft passed over the colosseum, causing Weiss to stop in her tracks and Ruby to bounce into her, thus causing Skyler to bounce into her.

"Uh, what are you viewing?" Ruby asked.

Weiss was looking up at the craft with a joyous expression, "She's here!"

And Weiss began to speed walk out of the colosseum, Skyler and Ruby following her, curious on who Weiss was talking about.

 **XXX**

Later, Ruby and Skyler followed Weiss to the docking bay, where that strange ship had landed.

"Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed, trying to catch up, "What is the big deal!? Who is it? Who is she!?"

Weiss stopped and smiled, "Winter."

"Winter?" Skyler asked, "Like... the season?"

"Wait," Ruby said, "Your sister?"

"Wait what?!" Skyler said surprised, this being new to him, "You have a sister?"

He looked at the woman who had left the ship. Sure enough, he could make out white hair and a fancy dress. It was pretty easy to tell that this woman was Weiss' sister.

Weiss cupped her mouth and called out, "Winter!!"

The three ran up to the elder Schnee as she noticed them.

"Winter!" Weiss greeted excitedly, "I'm so happy to see you! Oh, um... Your presence honors us."

Weiss ended off with a curtsy. Skyler was beginning to feel a little underdressed for an occasion such as this. Winter looked around and spoke in an elegant voice.

"Beacon..." she stated, "It's been a long time. The air feels... different."

"I mean, it is fall," Ruby said in a quiet voice, "So, eh, it's probably colder..."

Weiss promptly punched Ruby hard in the shoulder before turning back to her sister, "So, what are you doing here?"

"Classified," Winter answered.

"Oh, right," Weiss replied before trying again, "Well, how long are you staying?"

"Classified," Winter repeated.

"Of course."

There was an awkward silence before Ruby spoke, "Well... this is... nice... I think."

"You're going to love it here!" Weiss continuing fangirling, "I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! Vale, too. The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it!? I-"

"I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its... bureaucracy," Winter interrupted, "That is not why I came."

"Right! I'm sorry!"

"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it appears that I have no choice in the matter."

"But, we won!"

"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory. I counted at least three strikes missed," Winter gestured to her security, "Leave us."

The AK-200s obeyed, walking two steps backwards into formation.

Winter sighed and smiled a little more warmly at Weiss, "How have you been?"

"Oh, splendid! Thank you for asking. I'm actually in the very top ranking of our sparring class! And the rest of my studies are going wonderfully, too! I'm-"

Suddenly, Winter smacked her sister on the side of the head, leaving a bump, "Silence, you boob! I don't recall asking about your ranking, I'm asking how you've been. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?"

"Well, there's Ruby."

Ruby giggled as she pushed the bump back into Weiss' head, "Hehe, boob."

"I see," Winter looked at Ruby with a raised eyebrow, "So this is the leader you spoke of. How appropriately... underwhelming."

"Uh..." Ruby said, not sure what to reply, "Thank you!"

"Greetings Ruby Rose," Winter said, "I wish to thank you for taking an interns in my sister."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Skyler spoke up, feeling left out.

Weiss glared at him, but Winter looked at him, "Of course. I apologize. And you are..."

"Skyler Yin," he said, not sure whether to bow or offer a handshake, "I'm another one of Weiss' friends, as well as leader of Team SHDW."

"Pleasure to meet you," Winter nodded before going back to the situation at hand, "I have business with the General and your Headmaster. But, seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters?"

"Really?" Weiss smiled

Winter and Weiss began walking towards the Academy, followed by the androids, "Yes. I wish to inspect them and make sure that they are up to my personal standards."

"Of course," Weiss answered, "Just so you know, the bunk beds only look unstable."

"Bunk... beds?"

Ruby waved goodbye behind them, "I'll catch up- I mean, I will... reconvene with you both... at a later... juncture! ...At a juncture. Yeah."

Skyler just looked at her and couldn't help but grin, "You're lucky you're adorable and can get away with stuff like that."

 **XXX**

Later on, both Skyler and Ruby were brought back to the courtyard by the sounds of fighting. They ran up next to Weiss.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked her.

"Some crazy guy just started attacking my sister!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Oh no! Who would do such a th-" then Ruby saw Winter's opponent, "That is my uncle!!"

"What?!"

"Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!!!" Ruby yelled loudly.

Weiss huffed and turned back to the battle, "Teach him respect, Winter!!"

Skyler just shrugged, "Oh well. Gotta go with who I know more. GO UNCLE QROW!!!"

Qrow Branwen. Yang's biological uncle, yet strangely not Ruby's. But Ruby was still allowed to call him uncle, despite technically not being a blood relative. But anyway, Qrow was one of Skyler's teachers back in Signal, and since the... incident... Qrow was there to help Skyler cope in his own, drunken way. Qrow even allowed him to call him Uncle every now and then. Skyler really liked Qrow, hence why he was cheering for his victory.

And this fight was nuts. To a noob's eye, it would appear that Qrow had the disadvantage, but Skyler knew better. Qrow wasn't even fighting that seriously. He didn't even have his weapon in scythe mode. Because if he did, Winter would be done for.

Finally, Winter got fed up and activated a glyph behind her and got ready to charge. Then the gears in Qrow's sword began to turn, causing the sword to bend. Skyler grinned. This was it.

But suddenly, Qrow stopped and put away his weapon, much to everyone's confusion. Winter raised an eyebrow. Qrow just smiled and his expression said 'Come at me bro'. Winter growled and flew straight at him, screaming. But she was stopped by a voice.

"SCHNEE!!!"

Winter looked behind her to see General Ironwood standing behind her, with Penny Polendina behind him.

Winter lowered her blades and she addressed Ironwood, "General Ironwood, sir!"

Ironwood approached Winter with Penny by his side, "What in the world do you think you're doing?"

"He started the altercation, sir!"

Qrow put his hands behind his head in a relaxed stance, "That's actually not true. She attacked first."

"Is that right?" Ironwood asked.

Winter searched for words, only to realize Qrow was right. She looked down in shame.

Ironwood then turned to Qrow, "And you."

Qrow pointed to himself in mock confusion as Ironwood said, "What are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing," Qrow shot back.

"I-"

"Now now everyone," Ozpin's voice rang out as the headmaster and Professor Glynda Goodwitch walked up, "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the Colosseum, that I can assure you has better seats... and popcorn."

"Break it up everyone!" Goodwitch ordered, "We will take care of this mess."

"...Let's go," Ironwood said, Winter and the robots following them.

As Ironwood and Winter left, Penny noticed Ruby and quietly waved to her, while Ruby waved back. Ruby then leaped giddily onto Qrow's arm, shaking her legs in delight.

"UNCLE QROW!!!" she latched into his arm, "Hi!"

Qrow raised his arm, Ruby still clinging on as she said, "It's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me!?"

Qrow looked at her for a few seconds before smiling, "Nope."

Skyler walked up as Qrow ruffled Ruby's hair, "Long time no see, Qrow."

"Well, what do you know?" Qrow looked at Skyler, Ruby still attached to his arm, "How's it going kid?"

"Qrow!" Ozpin interrupted as Glynda cleaned up some rubble, causing Qrow to lower his arm and Ruby fell off, "A word, please?"

Ruby got up and Qrow whispered, "I think I'm in trouble."

"You did kinda tear up our courtyard," Ruby whispered back.

"And fought a high ranking Atlas military specialist," Skyler added.

"Yeah, I did," Qrow winked and gave both Ruby and Skyler a fist bump before leaving, "Catch ya later, kids."

"And suddenly, you're recklessness makes sense," Weiss commenting, walking up.

"You're just mad because he whupped butt," Ruby elbowed her.

"That was a draw at best!" Weiss retorted.

"No, Qrow won," Skyler smirked.

"Oh shut up!"

 **XXX**

On his way back to his dorm, Skyler couldn't help but ponder. What was Qrow doing here? He wasn't just here for the tournament, that much was obvious. So why was he here?

"Hey Skyler!" a voice called out to him, interrupting his thoughts.

Skyler turned to see Velvet Scarlatina of Team CFVY run up, "Oh, hey Velvet! What's up?"

"Have you seen Coco anywhere?" Velvet asked, "I haven't seen her since we left the stadium after our match."

Skyler grew confused, "No, sorry, I haven't. But I'll let you know if I see her."

"Thank you!"

"No problem Vel," Skyler grabbed the door handle as Velvet walked away.

Skyler opened the door to his dorm, and saw Walker... making out with Coco Adel, leader of Team CFVY. The two stopped when they heard the door and looked at Skyler. There were a few long seconds of awkward silence. Finally, Skyler closed the door, his face bright red.

Jaune walked past him, but stopped when he noticed the weird look on Skyler's face, "Something wrong?"

"...Nope."

 **XXX**

 **See, this is why you knock. Man, this chapter was longer than I was expecting, but who's complaining? Till next time guys!**


	24. Chapter 23: Lessons Learned

**Chapter 23: Lessons Learned**

The next day, Dante and Walker attended the first of the doubles round, featuring Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi of Team CFVY vs. Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai of Team CMEN. By then, the rest of Team SHDW knew of Walker's now-not-so-secret relationship with Coco.

"So... how _did_ you and Coco become a thing anyway?" Dante asked his partner.

"Well..." Walker replied, "We met the day before that Grimm invasion in the library. After the invasion, we saw each other more, and one thing led to another..."

"And next thing you know, you two are making out in our dorm room," Dante teased.

"You'll understand once you hook up with Hazel."

"Will you guys shut up about that?!"

"You make it too easy!"

They directed their attention back to the arena though, when the time came to begin the match. I want to say it started off well enough, but... not really. At first, it was Mercury vs. Coco and Yatsu (Emerald had disappeared somewhere), but then Emerald's weapon came out of the forest area, grabbing Coco and yanking her into the woods.

Next thing everyone knew, Yatsu was out of aura, and Coco soon joined him, getting kicked out of the forest. And the fight was over.

Walker and Velvet wasted no time on getting up and rushing out to go check on the two. Dante and Fox Alistair looked at each other, worried for their friends. Soon, they got up to join them.

 **XXX**

"You'll never beat me, old man!"

"You're nothing but talk, kid!"

"You can do it, Ruby!"

"Yeah, kick his butt!"

Aaaaand Ruby lost the match in Kung Fu Ninja Ultimate Death Battle 2 to Qrow.

"Ouch," Skyler whispered.

"And by the way," Qrow told his niece, "Don't ever call me old."

Yang pushed her sibling out of her spot as she grabbed the spinning controller from the air, "My turn!"

Qrow sat up while the game began again with 'NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!', "Now, where was I?"

Ruby popped up from behind the two players excitedly, "You were telling us about your last mission!"

"I was on the edge of my seat!" Skyler said.

"Right, right..." Qrow got back to his story, "I'd come across a small village in the swamps west of Mistral. Right off the bat, I knew something wasn't right."

"What were you doing there?" Skyler asked.

"I needed information. Tired from battling Grimm along the way, I decided to start my search at the town's inn. The place was crawling with lowlifes and thugs, even a few Huntsmen that I could only assume had been hired by less-than reputable people for less-than respectable jobs. And that's when it happened."

"What happened?" Yang asked.

"I was defeated... by the mere sight..." Qrow suddenly grinned, "Of the innkeeper's skirt length!"

 **(A/N: TINY MINISKIRTS!!! Hey, it's relevant. Qrow's the Fullmetal Alchemist after all.)**

And Qrow got a pillow thrown at him by Yang, mainly because that story distracted Yang long enough for her uncle to beat her.

"You're the worst!!" Yang exclaimed.

Qrow offered Yang's controller to Skyler, "You wanna go?"

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered, "Avenge your girlf-"

Ruby clapped her mouth shut as Qrow raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Uh..." Skyler gulped, getting nervous.

"Uncle Qrow..." Yang messed with her hair a bit, "Me and Skyler are kinda... dating."

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Qrow snorted, "About time."

"What?" Skyler, Yang, and Ruby all said, shocked.

"I was wondering when the heck Skyler was gonna figure it out," Qrow said, "Freaking finally."

"So... you're not gonna kill me?" Skyler asked.

"It's not me you gotta worry about, kid. It's the father you gotta get nervous about."

"Oh..." Skyler scratched the back of his neck, "Right... Can't wait..."

Ruby quickly switched topics, for Skyler's sake, "So, Uncle Qrow, did you get in trouble with Ozpin?"

Qrow waved the question off, "Nah, me and Oz go way back. We're cool."

Yang scoffed, "Cool for an old guy."

Qrow glared at her, "Not funny."

"So, what are you doing here anyway?" Skyler asked, since that question had been nagging at him, "I thought Taiyang said that you would be on a mission, for like... ever."

"Well, a professional Huntsman like myself is expected to get results, as soon as possible."

"Yeeeeaaaah, I get that," Ruby laughed, "We're pretty much pros, too."

"Oh, really?" Qrow replied skeptically.

"Psch, yeah!" Yang smirked, "Read the news sometime. We totally saved Vale while you were gone."

"Funny, because I heard Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train. But they don't give out medals for almost."

"They do, and it's called silver!" Ruby retorted.

"I'd love to agree with you Qrow," Skyler shrugged, "But Ruby's got a point there."

"Well, we helped take down Roman Torchwick!" Yang argued, "He's locked up in Ironwood's ship and crime's been down ever since! That's basically a bounty mission!"

"Sure, you may be acting like Hunter and Huntresses," Qrow stated, "But you're not thinking like one. You really think four girls and their friends could end all crime in a Kingdom?"

Ruby tapped her fingers together in embarrassment, "I mean, I did until you said that..."

"Pokémon trainers do it all the time and they're, like, ten," Skyler muttered.

"Violence hasn't dropped since Roman got nabbed; it's stopped, completely," Qrow said, now sounding more serious, "No White Fang activity around the city. You cut off the head of the King Taijitu, but now the second head 's calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick metal head of his."

Yang exchanged a look with Ruby and Skyler, "You... know the General?"

And Qrow was back to his usual joking demeanor, "Hey, I know everybody to some extent. Remember, you're talking to a member of the coolest team that graduated Beacon!"

Qrow reached behind him into one of his pockets and pulled out a photo, lined with stains and age, of four figures: himself, Raven Branwen, Taiyang Xiao Long, and Summer Rose. Yang's eyes widened and he sighed in remembrance.

"Hah, Team STRQ... That's where I met your parents. We were pretty well known back in the day."

"Well known for crummy fashion sense!" Ruby teased.

"Hey, we looked good! And I have a number of inappropriate stories to back that up!" Qrow wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, but noticed Yang continuing to stare at the picture and he put it away, "But, I'll save those for when you're older."

Ruby recoiled in disgust, "Oh, gross!"

"Hey, I'm older!" Skyler argued, "...Physically."

Qrow got up and began walking out, "Anyways, I'm too old to be hanging out with a bunch of kids. You're gonna cramp my style."

He paused at the doorway and sighed before addressing them again, "Look, just remember that you've still got a long way to go... And don't think for a second that graduating means you're done. Every day out there is worth a week in this place. You three, you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning; if you never stop moving forward."

With these immortal words of wisdom, Qrow exited down the hall.

 **XXX**

 **You know I'm really working when I manage to pump out three chapters in one day. But next up in Never Miss A Beat, and we get to see a fight between Skyler and Dante of my Team SHDW vs. Edward and Elizabeth of Team EBNE! Till next time guys!**


	25. Chapter 24: SD vs EE

**Chapter 24: Skyler and Dante vs. Edward and Elizabeth**

 **Author's Note: You may be wondering why I changed the title. Well, because Never Miss a Beat doesn't seem like the appropriate title for this, considering what most of this chapter is. Hopefully you enjoy this, because I had a LOT of fun with it!**

 **XXX**

Later on in day, Team SHDW and Team JNPR went to the stadium to see Team RWBY's next match. The opposition was... not what they expected.

"Hey!" one of them, Flynt Coal, called out, "You're Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress."

Weiss bowed her head, smiling at the recognition, "I am."

"I take it you're pretty good with Dust, then?" Flynt asked

Weiss shrugged humbly, "I do my best."

"Yeah, my dad was good too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own," then Flynt's smile turns into a scowl, his tone turning hostile, "Till your father's company ran him out of business."

"Oh," Weiss replied, looking ashamed, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Flynt looked away sarcastically, "Sure you are."

"Hey!" Yang exclaimed, "Why don't you-"

"Hey! Why don't you?" the other opponent, Neon Katt, imitated, "That's what you sound like!"

Yang didn't know how to react, "Uh..."

"Hey! Where'd you get your hair extensions?"

Skyler paled, "Oh no, she's talking about the hair..."

"This is just my normal hair," Yang answered.

"Ooh, really?" Neon said.

Yang was getting annoyed now, "Yeah! Is that a prob-"

"You should try rollerblading sometime!" Neon continued, cutting Yang off yet again, "It's super fun! It'd probably take you a while, though, since you're so... you know, top-heavy."

Yang looked down at herself, "Excuse me?!"

"Oh, here we go..." Ruby sighed.

And Neon kept going, "Do you have a boyfriend? If so, I bet those implants are the reason why."

Now Yang was heated, "EXCUSE ME?!?!"

Skyler's jaw dropped at that comment, "...Please kill her Yang."

The randomization process began and Yang turned to look at Skyler. To her relief, Skyler was glaring murderously at Neon.

He looked back at Yang and mouthed, "Please kill her."

"With pleasure," Yang mouthed back as the terrain rose.

I won't say the fight went well, but good enough. The fight was a strange mixture of explosions, rainbows, taunting, roller skating, cloning, and jazz music. Eventually, Flynt was about ready to attack Yang by surprise, but Weiss managed to push him down into a geyser, sacrificing herself to take him out. It didn't knock Flynt out, but it did get him on the borderline between orange and red.

It was just enough for Yang to finish him off in one blow. Then she focused her attention to Neon, who was struggling to skate through the geyser fields.

"Never miss a beat! Never miss a beat! Never miss a..." At that moment, her front wheels caught on a crack in the ground, making her lose her balance, and causing her to shed a few quick tears, "...beat?"

She tumbled down the rocky terrain before being shot up by a geyser. Yang grinned as she fired a blast from her gauntlets, scoring a direct hit, and knocking Neon out of the match.

After making sure Weiss was okay, Skyler and Dante began preparing. They were next.

 **XXX**

Skyler and Dante didn't know what to expect when they heard they were fighting another team from Atlas. But they certainly didn't expect this.

"This matchup includes..." Port announced, "Skyler Yin and Dante Williams of Team SHDW from Beacon!"

"And the opposition is..." Oobleck continued, "Elizabeth Malacraft and Edward of Team EBNE (Ebony) from Atlas!"

Skyler and Dante then saw their opponents. Elizabeth was short, probably Ruby's height, with vibrant green hair and aqua colored eyes, her clothes the same color scheme with some white thrown in. Her weapons were tonfa blades with a gun barrel at the end. In some ways, her appearance and demeanor kinda reminded them of Ruby. And to top it off, she was a Fox Faunus.

Then there was Edward. He was HUGE. As in, maybe bigger than Yatsuhashi huge! He had pale blonde hair and blue eyes, and had a blank expression on his face, like deadpan was his default expression. He wore armor kinda like Jaune's, except it had more covering and it was a grey/ebony color. If that wasn't enough, he had a huge shield on his back and a mace in his hand, both weapons with the same color pattern as his armor.

Skyler began to think. He knew not to underestimate Elizabeth. She may be small, but who knew what she was capable of. And definitely don't underestimate Edward, for obvious reasons.

Up in the stands, Weiss blinked at the Team EBNE members. They seemed... familiar, somehow. She just couldn't place it.

"No offense dude," Skyler whispered to Dante, "Probably should've chosen Hazel or Walker for this."

"Why?" Dante asked.

"Because I feel like the only way we're going to win is by ring-out. Hazel and Walker have the best weapons for that."

"Oh... yeah, I can totally see that. You have a point. No offense taken."

"Hello!" they heard Elizabeth say to them, somewhat shyly, "Let's have a good fight, okay?"

Edward just nodded in agreement. Skyler and Dante looked at each other before nodding to their opponents.

"Right!" Skyler grinned, getting his gun out, "Let's have some fun!"

"3, 2, 1, begin!!" Oobleck announced.

Edward hefted his shield and charged at the two. He was surprisingly fast for someone his size, catching both Skyler and Dante off guard. The shield hit them like a freight train, sending them flying. They got up moments later, reeling from the pain.

"Okay..." Dante groaned, "I expected a powerhouse... not a _speedy_ powerhouse!"

"Geez, he got us good," Skyler said, wiping some dirt off his face, "But we'll think of something."

"Like what?!" Dante asked before the two noticed Edward charging again.

They jumped to each side, narrowly dodging the hulk of a man. Dante looked at Skyler, continuing the conversation.

"Look at our Aura level man!" Dante pointed to the Jumbotron, "How are we supposed to survive against _that?!"_

Skyler glanced up and gulped. Their Aura was still green, but was border-lining on orange. After one hit! Dante had a point. A few more hits and both of them were done for. Skyler began to form a plan.

"Okay," Skyler said as Edward prepared another charge, "Part one of my plan has been thought up. Go after the girl and try to beat her. I got big guy. We might have a better chance if we split up."

"Your funeral!" Dante replied, immediately running for Elizabeth.

Edward took notice and growled in Dante's direction, but Skyler caught his attention, "Hey big guy!! Your fight's with me!!"

Though reluctantly, Edward focused on Skyler and began to use his shield to try and bash him. Skyler activated his sword and pulled the trigger once they collided, hoping that the resulting explosion could at least hold this guy off.

Unfortunately, things did not go like that. Out of the smoke the explosion caused, Skyler saw a mace just as it smashed into his gut, sending him into the mountainside. Skyler fell off the wall and onto his knees.

"Ow..." Skyler muttered in pain as he checked the screen again, seeing it was halfway through the orange, "Oh, that's unfortunate..."

 **(A/N: Basically, Edward seems to be the RWBY equivalent of a silent Broly. Except not nearly as rage-y... yet.)**

Back with Dante, he seemed to be faring well with Elizabeth so far. Her tonfa blades were a bit tricky to deal with, but close-range combat was Dante's bread and butter. He was quick to adapt, able to counter her attacks well enough. Elizabeth seemed to be losing ground, like she wasn't all that experienced with this. Dante found that peculiar. If she wasn't that experienced with this, why was she chosen by her team to be in the doubles round?

Suddenly, the girl managed to push Dante away and run into the wooded area. Dante ran after her, but lost her the moment they entered the forest. Dante combined his axes so that they formed his crossbow. He clutched his weapon, getting ready for a sneak attack.

Suddenly, a round of bullets hit the ground at his feet, causing him to jump back in fright. He fired in the general direction he heard the gunfire, hoping to draw the sneaky girl out. But he didn't see anything.

"I don't really like fighting," he heard her shy voice call out, "But in this kind of situation, I don't really have a choice."

Another round of bullets came his way, but he was prepared. He jumped to the side and fired, but once again, he saw nothing. Dante then knew he was going to have to use his Semblance. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened them again, his brown eyes slightly glowing. He then scanned the area.

His Semblance pretty much worked like a sniper scope for his eyes. He could zoom in far distances or even detect weak points on an opponent's body. It was perfect for sniping from long distances and taking down opponents by precisely hitting said weak points.

His eyes landed on nearby tree, where he spotted the tiniest tip of Elizabeth's shoe. He grinned and aimed. He fired, hitting the side of the tree, earning him a surprised 'Eep!'. He saw her dart across the tree line, so he aimed again. She was quick, dodging a few shots, but her luck eventually ran out and she was shot off a branch. She hit the ground and took off running back into the open, Dante close behind.

Skyler was not doing well. He was huffing and puffing, barely able to dodge Edward's attacks. He didn't want to keep moving, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Skyler knew that one more hit from this guy would be the end of him. Then both he and Edward were distracted by the sound of the knock out buzzer. Skyler looked over and saw Dante still standing, lowering his gun, with Elizabeth's tired body laying close by.

"Nice!" Yang fist pumped, "Dante got her!"

But the white haired man sitting next to her smiled despite himself, "Big mistake."

Skyler sighed with relief, thankful that they at least took out one of them. But that relief went away instantly when he looked at Edward. The big guy's face seethed with rage, losing all interest in Skyler as he looked at Dante. And at a speed unimaginable, Edward charged right at Dante.

Skyler barely had time to cry out a warning. Dante turned just in time to see Edward grab his face. Edward kept running, lowering Dante to ground level, _grinding_ him against the arena floor, before throwing him into a tree. Dante fell to the ground, completely out of Aura.

"DANTE!!!" Hazel cried out in terror at the brutal takedown.

Skyler's eyes went wide at that. Then his face drained of all color when Edward directed his attention to Skyler. His face was still rage-filled. Skyler gulped, but stood up.

"Well," Skyler sighed, "Didn't think I'd have to use _this_."

As Edward stalked towards him, taking his sweet time, Skyler opened up the bottom of his sword handle, emptying the Fire Dust crystal out of it. And out of his back pocket, he pulled out a yellow Dust crystal and inserted it in the handle. He closed the lid and got ready. What Skyler was doing had barely even been tested, but it was the only option he had left to take this giant down. He kinda needed risky ideas right now.

Edward, getting impatient with himself, hefted his mace and charged, ready to bash Skyler's head in. Edward swung and Skyler barely managed to duck underneath the ball and slip past the shield. And Skyler swung his sword, clanging against Edward's armor. Moment of truth. Skyler closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and pulled the trigger.

There was a loud ZAP and bolts of electricity spewed everywhere. While only a few hit Skyler, causing a slight jolt, the rest hit Edward due to his large size. The bigger man stumbled back in pain and dropped his shield from the electric shock and Skyler saw his chance. His sword crackling with electricity, Skyler attacked.

With each swing brought the equivalent of a five taser shots. Though the armor did little to protect Edward from the electricity, Skyler didn't take any chances and mostly kept swinging at exposed areas. Edward's already thick skin did limit the sword's power, it couldn't completely to stop him from wincing at the pain the electricity that it brought, causing him to be unable to fight back. Little by little, Edward's Aura chipped away.

Finally, Skyler kicked Edward, knocking him away slightly. Skyler took a few steps back and switched his weapon back to gun form. He aimed it at Edward and pulled the trigger.

With the power equivalent to that of a lightning strike, Skyler's shot hit Edward dead on. The blast was so powerful, Skyler actually felt a lot more of the bolts than when he first activated it in sword form. When Skyler let go of the trigger, they were both gasping and taking deep breaths, electricity sparking everywhere on Edward. And finally, Edward collapsed to the ground, his Aura in the red. And the crowd went wild.

"Ladies and gentlemen!!" Port cried out, "I doubt I've ever seen a more intense tournament match in my life!!"

"On that, we can both agree!" Oobleck nodded, "Spectacular!! Team SHDW takes the victory by a bare margin!!"

Skyler dropped to his knees, slightly paralyzed thanks to his own lightning, also dropping his weapon. He took deep breaths before noticing his teammates running up. Walker ran up to him and helped Skyler into his feet.

"You okay man?" Walker asked.

"My right arm is numb..." Skyler muttered.

"Yeah, you're fine."

Hazel ran up to where Dante was and shook him, "Dante!! Are you okay?! Say something!!"

Dante just muttered something deliriously incoherent. Hazel sighed, thankful he was okay. Skyler smiled at them before noticing Edward and Elizabeth's teammates, and his eyes widened. It was Nathan and Brittany, the two people he and Dante bumped into just yesterday after Team JNPR's team match.

"Wait..." Skyler groaned, still tuckered out, "You guys?!"

"Surprise!" Brittany said, getting Elizabeth to her feet.

"I'm actually impressed," Nathan stated, helping Edward up, "You two managed to take on and beat our usually invincible tag team."

"I see why..." Dante mumbled, still dazed, before turning to Elizabeth, "Your friend hits like a truck. Especially when he's angry. Sorry about that, by the way."

Edward turned and signed something to Elizabeth, who translated, "He said it's fine. He's pretty protective of me, considering I'm... well, you know..."

"A Faunus, yeah," Walker nodded.

"Just to make sure," Brittany glared, "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"Not at all," Hazel answered, "Some of our friends are Faunus."

"That's good to know," Nathan nodded, "Well, we have things to do, so we better be off."

"Bye!" Elizabeth smiled, "Even though we lost, it was pretty fun!"

Edward nodded, still deadpan.

"Later boys~!" Brittany waved flirtatiously as she left.

"Brittany..." Nathan warned.

"Got it! Geez!"

As they left, Skyler smiled a bit, "Maybe they aren't as jerkish as a I thought they were."

"Yeah," Dante agreed, "Brittany still makes me uncomfortable though."

"Oh, definitely."

 **XXX**

 **Man, that was awesome!! I actually feel really proud of myself with this one. Till next time guys!**


	26. Chapter 25: Fall

**Chapter 25: Fall**

 **Before you guys read this, I want to let you know that I'm going to make an information book on Team SHDW, detailing each character's appearances, history, and relationships. I'm going to publish it once I'm finished with this book. Go check it out once I do. Thanks guys!**

 **Also, sorry if this chapter is shorter than the rest. It has little focus on Team SHDW, so... yeah. Enjoy!**

 **XXX**

"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for!" Port called out over the broadcasting system, "The one-on-one finals!"

In the center of the battlefield's stage, Skyler smirked confidently as he looked at the line of the final fighters, a few new faces mixed in with him, Sun Wukong, Penny Polendina, Mercury Black, Yang, and Pyrrha at the other end of the line.

"Barty," Port said to Oobleck, "Why don't you explain the rules?"

"Ah, it's quite simple, Peter," Oobleck explained, "Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!"

"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!"

Skyler mentally prepared himself. He could be fighting any one of these people. Yang, who was next to him, whispered to her boyfriend.

"Look," she said, "You better win your fight if you get paired with someone else. But know that when we fight, I'm not gonna hold back just because we're dating."

Skyler grinned at her, "Can't wait."

"Ah, yes, yes!" Oobleck said, "Now, let's see who our first match will be!"

The energetic doctor pointed out to the screens above the stadium as the roulette started spinning, this time for competitors instead of biomes. The random selection stopped to reveal...

"Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!!" Port announced.

Yang grinned. Her already? It was her lucky day! She looked at Skyler, who grinned back.

"Good luck," he said, "But I doubt you'll need it."

Ruby cupped her hands to make sure her encouragement was heard from her spot alongside RWBY, JNPR, SHDW, and SSSN, "Break a leg, sis!"

"Would all other combatants please leave the stage!" Port said.

The rest of the lineup did so, and Yang started walking up to Mercury in the middle as the floor around them opened once more, with a ring of spotlights rising up to automatically fix their lights on the remaining two.

Yang smiled, "You better not go easy on me."

Mercury laughed darkly, "You wish."

The fight went about as Skyler expected. After hearing about Emerald and Mercury almost completely mopping the floor with Coco and Yatsuhashi, Skyler knew they would be a huge obstacle to overcome. And once Yang was announced to fight Mercury, Skyler knew she was gonna have a rough time.

Luckily, once it seemed that Mercury won, a huge burst of fire flared around Yang, and she utterly decimated him. But... little did anyone know, that was the last innocent moment they witnessed.

Mercury got up, and Yang, out of nowhere, turned around and punched him in the leg. The rest was a blur, at least to Skyler. Why on Remnant would Yang do something like this?! Did Mercury say something to tick her off? Then Skyler caught the look on Yang's face.

She looked utterly confused and slightly scared. That's when he knew something wasn't right.

Things had gone to crap.

 **XXX**

 **Yeah, I unofficially dubbed the latter half of RWBY Volume 3 as "Everything Goes to Crap". And you all know that's true. Till next time guys!**


	27. Chapter 26: Destiny

**Chapter 26: Destiny**

By the time, Skyler made towards RWBY's dorm room, someone was heading away from that direction. It was General Ironwood from Atlas. And well, Skyler nearly ran into him. Skyler managed to stop himself before he ran the General over.

"Oh crap!!" Skyler skidded to a halt, "Sorry sir!! I didn't mean-"

"No, it's fine," Ironwood replied, "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"I'm... going to Team RWBY's dorm," he answered, a bit hesitant.

Ironwood raised an eyebrow, "And why is that?"

"Um..." Skyler gulped, not sure if honesty was best here, but his late parents didn't raise a liar, "Yang Xiao Long's my girlfriend. I need to see her and find out what happened."

Ironwood looked a bit skeptical for a second, but saw that Skyler was sincere, and his expression softened, "Very well. But if she says something off, I want you to report it to Ozpin. Regardless of anything, we all saw what happened. I'm sure you understand."

Skyler sighed, "Yes, sir."

"Farewell, Mister..."

"Skyler Yin."

"Farewell, Mr. Yin. I hope to see you again. Under better circumstances, of course."

And with that, the Atlesian General walked away. Skyler, though feeling humble, starting walking swiftly again. He made it to the dorm and knocked. Ruby peeked out before fully opening the door.

"Oh, hey Skyler," she said, understandably in a downed mood, "We were just leaving. You came to see Yang?"

Skyler nodded, "Yeah. Can I come in?"

Blake nodded with a smile, "Yeah. We'll get out of your hair."

The girls left the room and Skyler closed the door behind him. The moment Yang saw him, she teared up and jumped into his arms. Skyler didn't complain in the slightest. As of right now, this was all she needed. A shoulder to cry on. Eventually, they separated and sat down on Yang's bed.

"You..." Yang hesitated, "You don't believe I did that on purpose, do you?"

Skyler took a deep breath, trying to find the right words, "Well, I know what I saw. But at the same time, I know for a fact that you wouldn't do anything like that. You may have a temper, but you wouldn't go there."

Yang smiled sadly, indicating that Skyler said the right words, "Thank you... Thank you so much."

Skyler smiled back and kissed her on the cheek, "Just get some rest. I gotta get back to the stadium in case I'm called. See you soon."

"See ya."

Skyler opened the door... and the rest of Team RWBY fell into the room. Ruby looked up at Skyler and chuckled nervously.

"Really?" Skyler deadpanned.

"Cheese it!!" Ruby yelped, and just as fast as they fell, the three ran off.

Well, Weiss and Blake got away. Ruby tripped halfway across the hall and fell to the floor. Skyler walked over and helped her up.

"Come on," he said, but he couldn't help but smile, "I'm guessing you want to go to see the next match?"

Ruby nodded vigorously, and Skyler smiled and rolled his eyes, "Then let's go."

 **XXX**

At the cliffside docking bays down the main alleyway and under the floating Amity Colosseum, Ruby and Skyler walked up to the end of the line waiting to get in the transport up to the arena. They spotted Sun Wukong walking away, his weapon over his shoulder, with a familiar rabbit Faunus snapping photos of him. The two stepped out of line and approached her from behind as she continued taking pictures with her camera until the rabbit Faunus noticed who was behind her.

"Ruby, Skyler!" Velvet smiled brightly, turning around, "How are you doing?"

Ruby raised a hand in greeting, "Hi, Velvet!"

"What're you up to?" Skyler asked.

Velvet rolled her eyes happily, "Oh, you know. Just working on my photography. Do you wanna see?"

She showed her camera to the two, looking extremely delighted. The two leaders immediately noticed that Velvet didn't even get all of Sun in her picture, cutting out his head and feet.

"That's... better," Ruby stepped away as she grins in forced approval, Skyler doing the same.

"I'm... sorry about Yang," Velvet said, concerned, "Is she doing okay?"

Ruby looked away, "Yeah, she's fine, heh. Thanks."

Velvet put the camera away in the box on her back, "I think it's just awful what people are saying about her. Yang's such a nice person."

"Well, I'm glad someone thinks so," Skyler smiled.

"Most people don't know what it's like on the battlefield," Velvet continued, "I mean, even experienced fighters can get scared and start seeing things. If it happened to Coco, it can happen to anyone."

Ruby cocked her head to the side, "Coco?"

"Something happened to Coco?" Skyler asked, now confused.

"Yeah," Velvet answered, "She swore she saw Yatsu with her in the forest during the fight with Emerald and Mercury, but he never even made it out of the geyser fields. Stress-induced hallucinations, apparently."

"Yeah..." Ruby and Skyler shared a look, only to flinch and look at Velvet after a quick flash startles them.

Velvet lowered the camera from her face, smiling apologetically, "Oh! Sorry!"

Skyler pondered over Velvet's words, pacing around the stadium. He needed to get his team's input on this. But at the same time, he might be called up. Wasn't he relieved when he wasn't.

Once Penny and Pyrrha were called up, he immediately got on the next airship and texted his team to meet him in the docking bay. They needed to talk.

 **XXX**

 **Oh dear, this episode hit us all like a truck when it came out. And the next episode began to slowly break us. Till next time guys!**


	28. Chapter 27: PvP

**Chapter 27: PvP**

Skyler arrived back at the docks and waited for his teammates to arrive. If what Velvet told Ruby was true, then he and his team needed to discuss it. When they arrived, Skyler explained the situation the best he could.

"Well, you got a point," Hazel said, "It is a weird coincidence... Both Coco and Yang got these PTSD illusions when fighting the same team."

"There is no way they could be seeing things," Walker put in, "Coco isn't one for seeing things or getting PTSD. She's way too strong for that."

"Same with Yang," Skyler said, "It can't be coincidence. Too many things match up."

"But there's one thing I don't get," Hazel rubbed her chin, "A motive. Why would they do that? I would guess for winning the tournament, but with Mercury's injury and Team CMEN going out of Vale, they're not getting anywhere."

"Um, guys?" Dante said nervously, holding his Scroll.

"What is it?" Walker asked.

Dante presented his Scroll in the middle of their circle, showing SHDW the screen. Dante had paused the live feed of the Pyrrha vs. Penny match.

"You guys may not see this, but I can," Dante stated, "I saw Pyrrha look strange when the match started, so I watched closely. And in the midst of the crowd... I saw Emerald."

"What?!" Skyler gasped, "But, she's gone! Isn't she?"

Dante fast forwarded to where the match was now live, and Penny looked poised to attack. But the weird part was that Pyrrha looked a lot more nervous than she should have been. Penny thrust her swords forward, and Pyrrha unleashed as much of her Polarity as she could. Nobody was prepared for what came next.

Each blade was sent reeling back at Penny, who was also unintentionally affected by the Semblance attack. Pyrrha only had a brief moment to understand what was happening before Penny's arms were spread wide as she gasped, the strings attached to her own weapons curling around her left arm and midsection, which were crumpled by the force.

Next thing anybody knew, Penny was split in half at the waist. Hazel let out a shriek, while the guys were a collection of gasps and shocked silence. But it also took them a moment to realize that there was no blood. Only wires.

"No way..." Dante muttered.

"She was a robot?!" Walker pressed his hand to his forehead.

"That explains a lot," Hazel squeaked, "But that's not really what I'm focused on."

"What the heck is going on here?" Skyler mumbled.

Suddenly, the screen turned red, a black chess piece in the middle of the screen. A Queen Piece. And a familiar voice spoke.

-This... is not a tragedy. This... was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men.-

"Cinder..." Skyler growled.

-Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil.-

"Dante," Skyler ordered, "Scan everywhere. Something tells me that you might be able to spot her."

"Already on it," Dante nodded, looking at the rooftops.

-What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither.-

Skyler growled. This lady was really starting to tick him off.

-Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves.-

"Found her!!" Dante yelled, pointing to a hotel a few blocks down, "She's on the roof!!"

-As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you, the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark.-

"I'm on it!!" Skyler said, taking off towards the city.

"What?!" Hazel screamed, "Where are you going?!"

"To get some answers!!"

-So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?-

Skyler made it to the building a few minutes later, not sure if she was still there. But he had to try. Why would she move anyway? He flipped his weapon into sword-form and pulled the trigger. The resulting explosion propelled him up to the top of the roof where he saw her. Cinder Fall turned to face him. If she was surprised, she didn't show it.

"Well well well," she smiled menacingly, "Look who it is. I'll give you credit, I didn't expect anyone to find out. But here you are."

Skyler growled, flipped his sword into gun-form, and aimed it at her, "I knew there was something off about you guys. I just didn't expect this. Now, what do you want?!"

Cinder just raised her arm, her eyes glowing, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes, I would actually."

Cinder smirked and shot a fireball out of her hand, while Skyler pulled the trigger at the same time. The two flames met, and there was an explosion, creating a smokescreen. When the smoke cleared, Cinder was gone. Skyler growled to himself, looking around, but she wasn't anywhere.

Suddenly, there was a loud blaring of sirens. And the warning for an incoming Grimm attack was announced. Skyler grimaced and his eyes widened.

"So that's their game," Skyler quickly pulled out his Scroll and hopped off the roof, "Dante! Cinder's disappeared, so I'm coming back! You see any Grimm?"

"Galore!!" Dante yelled, "And not just Grimm! I'm spotting some White Fang members! The school seems to be the target!!"

"Alright, just meet back up with me! We'll head back to the school together!!"

"Copy that! On our way!!"

Skyler hung up his Scroll and took off back to where his team was. He then looked up to see some of the Atlas Fleet taking fire at the giant Nevermores. But one of the ships wasn't. Instead, it turned and shot down the other two airships. Skyler's eyes widened in fear.

This was going to be a long night.

 **XXX**

 **And everything officially goes to crap. Ladies and gentlemen, the Battle of Beacon has begun. Till next time guys!**


	29. Chapter 28: Battle of Beacon

**Chapter 28: Battle of Beacon**

About halfway back, Skyler ran into a pack of Beowolves. He groaned and attacked them, but he knew he shouldn't complain. After all, these hoards of Grimm weren't going to stop anytime soon. He managed to slice through most of the pack, but the last one gave him trouble.

An Alpha Beowolf. Skyler remembered the last time he took one down, way back in Emerald Forest with Hazel. He grinned, switching his katana into gun-form. He shot fire at it, causing it to step back in pain. Skyler vaulted over it, switched back into sword-form, and slashed down the Alpha's back. The Alpha collapsed, dead.

Then an Ursa pounced towards him, but before Skyler could react, it was shot out of the air. Skyler turned to see his team standing there, Dante's crossbow smoking.

"Let us have some fun, would ya?" Dante joked.

"I'm all for having fun," Walker said, "But this isn't really the time for jokes. We need to get back to Beacon."

Skyler nodded, "Let's go then."

They started running, but then a tremor started. They stopped in their tracks, looking around. Another tremor. The mountain outside the city started to violently shake and crumble.

Suddenly, the mountain completely broke apart, releasing a titanic Dragon-like Grimm. The Dragon roared and flew over the abandoned Mountain Glenn, heading towards Beacon. As it flew, it exuded a black, tar-like substance which dropped to the ground in the city and spawned various Grimm.

Team SHDW stood shoulder to shoulder as Grimm spawned around them. Skyler glanced around as Beowolves, Ursa, and Creeps surrounded them.

"You guys ready?" Skyler asked.

"Ready," Walker nodded grimly.

"Always," Hazel replied.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world," Dante grinned.

And they attacked.

 **XXX**

 **Again, sorry for the really short chapter. Not a lot really happens, other than that Dragon Grimm. But next time, we get more insight on Skyler's past. Till next time guys!**


	30. Chapter 29: Heroes and Monsters

**Chapter 29: Heroes and Monsters**

Team SHDW traveled through the streets, killing any Grimm that was unfortunate enough to cross their path. But Grimm weren't the only obstacle. Atlesian Knights suddenly turned on them and fired their guns. Honestly, Skyler wasn't surprised. Cinder had a plan, and it was working perfectly. He really didn't like that woman.

They arrived at Beacon just in time to see Velvet... wrecking a couple of Atlesian Paladins. Skyler and Dante grinned, since they already figured that Velvet was a secret weapon. Hazel and Walker, on the other hand, had their jaws dropped.

"Okay..." Hazel said, "I take back everything I said about Velvet being a damsel in distress."

"Ditto," Walker muttered.

However, Velvet was taken down by another Paladin, but then Weiss stepped in. She rushed in between Velvet and the Paladin, a glyph already summoned, closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth. The Paladin's attack was stopped by an arm wielding a sword summoned by the glyph. The arm then proceeded to bisect the entire robot. Weiss fell to one knee in exhaustion.

Hazel then walked over and offered a hand. Though surprised, Weiss took it and was helped up.

"I still don't like you," Hazel said, "But that was cool."

"...Thank you?"

But before they could take another breath, another advanced Paladin rushed in from the corner and began to charge at them.

And Sun spoke what they were all thinking, "You have got to be kidding me!!"

But luck was on their side. As the students stood prepared to fight the Paladin, electricity arced across it and it suddenly powered down, collapsing and sliding to a stop in front of them.

"That went a lot better than I expected," Dante said.

"You said it," Coco replied.

"Skyler!! Weiss!"

Skyler turned just in time to see Yang tackle him in a hug, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Same," Skyler smiled, before Yang turned to Weiss.

"Have you heard from Ruby?" she asked.

Weiss shook her head and Yang asked another question, "What about Blake?"

"She went after an Alpha..." Weiss pointed in the direction of what was left of the cafeteria, "And some members of the White Fang."

"You look for Ruby," Yang said, "I'll meet up with Blake."

"I'll go with you," Skyler said and Yang nodded, feeling more confident.

And the two took off.

 **XXX**

"And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."

"Blake!!" Yang's voiced cried out.

"Blake, where are you?!" Skyler's yell echoed.

Adam Taurus looked at the two before looking down and seeing Blake's terrified expression, "...Starting with them."

Adam drew his sword and stabbed it into Blake's abdomen near her left hip, causing her to shriek in pain. The cry caught Yang and Skyler's attention.

"Huh?"

Adam stood upright, pulling his sword from Blake's flesh and turned to face the two. Skyler stared at Adam, disbelief in his eyes. Yang had a different reaction.

"Get away from her!!!" Yang yelled, fire bursting around her.

"Yang, wait!!!" Skyler's voice came out more like a squeak than a yell, so naturally, Yang didn't listen.

Yang screamed and leapt right at Adam, who had his sword ready. Adam swiftly drew his sword, swinging it through the air at Yang, as his Semblance activated. As Yang flew through the air, the lower half of her right arm was cut off. Skyler stared in shock and horror, unwanted flashbacks coming into his mind.

Yang's unconscious body fell to the ground. Adam stalked towards the fallen Yang, but Blake quickly jumped in front of her on all fours and glared at him.

Adam shook his head, "Why must you hurt me Blake?"

He swung his sword, but before it could connect, it was blocked by another. Blake, who had shut her eyes, opened them to see Skyler standing in front of her, blocking Adam's attack with his sword.

He swung Adam's sword out of range and kicked the unsuspecting White Fang Leader into the far wall. Without turning around, Skyler spoke.

"Blake," he said quietly, "Take Yang and get out of here."

Blake stared at him, "But Skyler-"

"LEAVE!!!" Skyler snapped, turning to her, his eyes filled with rage.

Blake had never seen Skyler so angry before. Then again, Adam had just cut off Yang's arm. Now a bit scared of Skyler, Blake nodded quickly, grabbed Yang, and ran. Skyler switched his attention back to Adam.

"Hey Adam," he said, "It's been a while."

Adam grinned a bit, "Well well well, look who it is. How are you, old friend?"

"You're no longer my friend."

"And when did that happen?"

"The day you murdered my family!!"

Adam's grin faded, "I'm surprised you still remember that."

Skyler's scowled as the memory flowed through his mind.

 **XXX**

 _Skyler was in his first year of Signal. Adam was one of his new friends and they seemed to be getting along nicely. However... Skyler's parents weren't exactly thrilled. While they weren't nearly as bad as most people, they still didn't like Faunus._

 _They had somewhat of a good reason. With the very few White Fang extremists there were at the time, their family had been one target. Therefore, Skyler's family didn't exact trust Faunus. Adam was no exception. Though he came from Menagerie, a relatively peaceful place, Skyler's parents were still skeptical of him._

 _It was midnight when it happened. Skyler was awoken by a loud explosion and his mother rushed into his room._

 _"Mom? What's going on?"_

 _"Someone's attacking us!" his mother said, "We need to leave!"_

 _"Who?!"_

 _Before she could answer, there was another explosion and a cry of pain. His mother's eyes widened._

 _"Richard!!" she yelled, before turning back to Skyler, "Skyler! Run! And whatever you do, don't look back. Find Yang's father and tell him what's going on. You have to hurry!"_

 _"But... Mom..."_

 _"There's no time to argue!" his mother pulled out her weapon, a cross between a pistol and a kitchen knife, "I'll distract them. You run."_

 _Skyler could only nod in agreement. He grabbed his weapon, still a prototype at the time, and slowly followed his mother outside. He saw a huge hole where the front wall of his house used to be and his father lying still on the ground, either unconscious... or worse._

 _There were also three figures standing behind Skyler's father. His mother raised her pistol, tears glistening on her face._

 _"Skyler get out of here!!" she yelled but she saw that you could only stare at the figure in the middle, "What are you waiting for?! Run!!"_

 _She fired at the three, but the middle man raised his sword's sheath and blocked the shot. Then at incredible speed, the man ran forward and sliced. Skyler could only stare in horror at what had just happened._

 _His mother slowly turned his head to him, "I'm sorry..."_

 _And his mother fell to the ground. Skyler felt tears streaming down his face. The figure then turned to him, his red sword still flashing. He began to walk towards Skyler._

 _"No..." Skyler whispered then screamed, "NO!!! Stop!!"_

 _The figure stopped and smiled, "It's about time I saw you again."_

 _"Adam... Why?! Why would you do this?! I thought you were my friend!!"_

 _"These fools discriminate us!" Adam pointed his sword at Skyler's parents' corpses, "I have made them pay for their sins!"_

 _He sheathed his sword and held out his hand, "You, however... You are different. Join us! The White Fang could use a human ambassador."_

 _Skyler glared at his former friend and tightened his grip on his weapon, "No! They were my family!! I'll never forgive you!!"_

 _Adam sighed, "Suit yourself."_

 _Adam charged, and Skyler pulled the trigger. If Skyler's reflexes had been a little bit slower, Adam might've gotten him. But flames shot out of the gun and Adam jumped back at the last second, narrowly avoiding getting burnt._

 _Adam sneered, "Fine! Another day..."_

 _And Adam and the two White Fang soldiers retreated. Skyler dropped his weapon and his knees gave out. He dropped to the ground, and began to bawl his eyes out._

 _The following weeks were tough. Even with Dante, Yang, and Ruby's comfort, it still took Skyler a long time to get over the trauma. He never told anyone who did it. Last he heard, Adam had moved back to Menagerie, and Skyler never saw him again. Until now._

 **XXX**

"You'll pay for what you did that night," Skyler scowled, "And you'll pay for what you did to Yang and Blake!!"

"Please," Adam scoffed, "You can't beat me. You know it. I know it. But by all means... give it your best shot."

And they fought. Sword clashed against sword. Former friend vs. former friend. They seemed evenly matched, but Skyler knew Adam was toying with him. The clashes finally came to an end when Adam kicked him away and slashed.

Pain erupted across Skyler's chest and he fell to the ground, holding back a scream. He looked up to see Adam walking up to him. Adam pointed his sword at Skyler's throat.

"This is the end... old friend."

Adam brought back his sword, ready to stab his old friend in the throat. Skyler closed his eyes, preparing for the end, praying for a miracle.

But the end never came. When Skyler opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that his vision was outlined in the color gray. Time seemed to have literally stopped. Skyler glanced up at Adam, whose sword was still moving, but at a snail's pace. Time had slowed down.

Skyler looked at himself, 'Did... did I do this?'

Skyler was downright confused. Then he realized something. He didn't know what his Semblance was. Was... was this it?

It was. Deep down, Skyler knew it was. He had finally discovered his Semblance. He could slow down time. He managed to get up, his sword gripped tightly as he looked at Adam. This was the perfect opportunity to kill him. But Skyler gasped as the pain on his chest increased. He looked at Adam.

'Another day...'

And Skyler managed to escape from Adam's sight moments before time sped back up.

 **XXX**

 **Believe me when I say this: I did not want to have the 'dead parent' cliche in this, but they're _so easy_ to write. I see now why so many superheroes have deceased family members. Till next time guys!**


	31. Chapter 30: End of the Beginning

**Chapter 30: End of the Beginning**

Skyler managed to make it back to the others okay, but promptly collapsed once he did. He was barely able to keep his eyes open, but he saw Velvet rush over to him and she helped him sit up.

"Thanks," Skyler said, his voice dry.

"Don't talk," Velvet said as she knelt next to him and pointed at the slash mark, "That needs to be treated."

He nodded and looked to his right. His eyes widened as he saw Yang lying there on the ground, unconscious. What was left of her right arm was wrapped in bandages.

Blake was sitting nearby Yang, chanting the same words over and over, "I'm sorry..."

Skyler scooted over next to Yang and held her hand like it was his lifeline. He looked around until he finally saw his team. Hazel was tending to some of Dante's wounds, him wincing when she applied the medicine. Walker was with Coco, keeping an eye out for Grimm. Nora and Ren were sitting on the ground, slightly injured.

Velvet came back with some gauze and wrapped it around Skyler's wound.

"Thanks Velvet," Skyler told her.

"It's the least I could do," Velvet smiled.

Blake just stared at him, "...Why did you fight him?"

Skyler turned to look at her, "Huh?"

"Adam. Why did you fight him? You should've ran."

Skyler frowned, "I wasn't leaving Yang or you behind. Plus, the guy looked about ready to torture you. Maybe worse."

"But why-"

"Does it matter?!" Skyler snapped, "I saved your life, as well as Yang's. If I got hurt, so what?! That's what being a Huntsman is all about: putting others' lives ahead of your own. Especially when it's your friends."

Blake flinched at his sudden outburst. In all of her time at Beacon, she had never seen Skyler so mad, so... broken. It was so out of character for him.

"If only I hadn't flinched..." Skyler muttered, squeezing Yang's hand, "If only I had been faster..."

"Ruby!!"

Skyler looked up and saw Ruby run over, Weiss greeting her. He let out a sigh of relief, thankful she was here now, safe.

"Oh, I found you!" Ruby stated.

"Ruby," Weiss asked, "Where have you-"

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Ruby assured, "What's going on?"

Unsure of what to say, Weiss lowered her gaze sadly, confusing Ruby, "Weiss? What is it?"

Weiss moved out of the way, showing Ruby the scene behind her. Ruby's eyes widened in horror at the sight.

Ruby reached out and opened her mouth to say something, but in her emotional state, she didn't know what to say, "Yang..."

Sun walked over to her, "Hey. She's gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale."

"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing," Nora said, attempting to stand, but quickly sitting back down in pain.

Ruby gasped, "What!?"

"Look, guys," Sun pointed out, "That giant Grimm is circling the school! Even the White Fang are pulling out! We all have to go, now!"

"We're not... leaving!" Ren then attempted to stand up, but then fell to his knees, "Ugh!"

Sun turned and cast a worried look at Blake, who was still staring at Skyler with a confused look. Skyler didn't notice. His biggest concern was the girl whose hand he was holding.

"...I'll find them," Ruby proclaimed, catching Skyler's attention, "I'll find them, and I'll bring them back!"

"No," Weiss walked up next to her, "We will find them."

Weiss looked at Skyler, "We'll be back. Think you and Sun can handle any attacks?"

Skyler nodded grimly, "I'll try my best Ice Queen."

Weiss rolled her eyes, but ran off with Ruby.

"You better be back!" Sun called out after them before muttering, "Idiots..."

As Skyler watched them go, he clutched Yang's hand tighter. Soon, he slipped into unconsciousness.

 **XXX**

About two days later, Skyler was laying down on the couch in the Xiao Long residence. He remembered waking up in the guest bedroom yesterday and reuniting with Ruby and Yang's dad, Taiyang Xiao Long. He was then informed about what happened.

Beacon had fallen, the Dragon Grimm was frozen atop the tower because of Ruby (long story), and the rest of his team had gone their separate ways. Dante had gone back home, Walker was most likely with Team CFVY somewhere, and Hazel had flown back to Mistral. But none of that was the worst news.

Pyrrha was dead. That was what hit him the hardest. Pyrrha Nikos, P-Money, the invincible girl, had fought Cinder atop of Beacon Tower, where she met her end. Skyler had to lay back down for that. It took him the rest of the day to process that.

"You doing okay?"

Skyler looked up to see Taiyang standing over him, and he sighed, "Yeah, I guess..."

"You don't look okay," Taiyang frowned, "Especially after that conversation with my daughter."

Skyler grimaced as he remembered what had gone down.

 **XXX**

 _Yang had just woken up in her bed. She glanced at her right arm and saw the bandages. She felt like crying. Then she looked to her left._

 _There was Skyler, asleep in a chair, half-laying down on the bed. His hand was on hers. She moved her hand and he woke up._

 _"Yang?" he said groggily, then his face instantly brightened, "Yang! You're awake!"_

 _His mood then dropped when he noticed the look on her face, "What's wrong?"_

 _"What isn't wrong?!" Yang snapped, causing him to flinch, "I've lost my freaking arm, Skyler!! How the crap do you think I feel?!"_

 _"Yang-"_

 _"We've hit rock bottom Skyler! Don't bother trying to cheer me up!"_

 _"Yang, please, calm down-"_

 _"Calm down?! CALM DOWN?!?!" Yang's eyes turned red, "How can I calm down at a time like this?!"_

 _At that moment, Taiyang walked in, embraced his daughter, and had the terrible job of telling her the details. By the time he walked out, Yang was in tears. Skyler could do nothing but sit there. Then he put an hand on her shoulder and she spoke again. She wasn't yelling, but that didn't make what came out of her mouth less hurtful._

 _"Get out."_

 _"What?! But Yang-"_

 _"GET OUT!!! GET OUT OF MY ROOM, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, AND GET OUT OF MY LIFE!!!!!"_

 _Skyler stared at her before speaking again, "If that's what you want..."_

 _And Skyler walked out, wiping the tears from his eyes._

 **XXX**

"It wasn't exactly the most pleasant of conversations," Skyler replied.

"No... No, it wasn't," Taiyang sat down, "But you know she didn't mean any of that."

"I'm aware. It still hurts. I probably should've waited until she properly coped though."

"Maybe... Just give her time. I can tell she already regrets what she said. Just... just let her get some rest."

Taiyang got up and walked away, leaving Skyler to his thoughts. He sighed and leaned back. Maybe he needed some rest too.

 **XXX**

A month or so later, in the winter time, Ruby walked out of her house, closing the back door quietly. She turned and saw Jaune standing there.

"Hey."

Ruby smiled sadly, "Hey Jaune. Haven's a long way to go."

"I know," Jaune said, "It's the only way we have.

"Are you sure you want to come along?"

"The journey will be perilous," a new voice said.

The two turned to Ren, who had spoken, with Nora standing next to him, "And whether we'll find answers at the end is entirely uncertain.

"But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it," Nora grinned.

"I'm going with you too."

The group turned to see Skyler leaning against a leafless tree, "I can't let you have all the revenge."

"Where's your team?" Ren asked.

"Dante's back home," Skyler replied, "His family is reluctant to even let him leave the house. I have no idea where Walker and Hazel are though. But I at least know they're alright. Hopefully we'll find them later on."

Ruby nodded, "Then let's get started."

As they started walking, Skyler glanced at the window that belonged to Yang's bedroom. He felt for something in his pocket. When he found it, he spoke to the others.

"You guys go on. I'll catch up. It'll only be a second."

 **XXX**

Yang sat in her bed as she heard her father rush past her room. She didn't know what was wrong, but she didn't really care. She looked out the window, but noticed something stuck under it.

It was an envelope. She reached over and pulled it out. On the back it had her name and the flap was already open. She pulled the letter out and read it.

 _Dear Yang,_

 _I know you probably don't want to talk, but... I'm sorry. I had to get that out. I'm sorry things are so messed up right now and I'm sorry I could only stand there when Adam... well, you know. You're going through so much, and here I am: physically fine (I'm not going to say emotionally. I'm FAR from emotionally fine)._

 _I don't know why I'm not telling you this in person. Maybe it's because I'm off with Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora and heading to Haven or the fact that you don't want me around is really getting to me. What I'm trying to say is... I'm sorry. I love you._

 _Love,_

 _Skyler Yin_

 _P.S. Don't tell anyone we're off to Haven. Please. It's something we have to do. Love you._

Yang finished reading. Then she smiled, tears beginning to show. She looked out the window one more time.

'Good luck Skyler... I love you too.'

 **XXX**

 **This was the episode that broke us for good. And now for the epilogue with Salem! Till next time guys!**


	32. Epilogue: Off to Salem

**Epilogue: Off to Salem**

 _A smaller, more honest soul. It's true that a simple spark can ignite hope, and breathe fire into the hearts of the weary. The ability to derive strength from hope, is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute. Which is why I will focus all of my power... to snuff it out._

 _How does it feel, knowing that all of your time and effort has been for nothing? That your guardians have failed you? That everything you've built will be torn down before your very eyes? Your faith in mankind was not misplaced. When banded together, unified by a common enemy, they are a noticeable threat. But divide them, place doubt into their minds, and any semblance of power they once had will wash away._

 _Of course, they won't realize it at first... Like you, they'll cling to their fleeting hope, their aspirations. But this is the first move._

 _So you send your guardians, your Huntsmen and Huntresses, and when they fail and you turn to your smaller soul, know that you send her to the same pitiful demise._

This is the beginning of the end, Ozpin.

 **And I can't wait to watch you burn.**

 **XXX**

 **Never in my life have I seen a show where the narrator was behind everything. But I suppose that concludes the first part of Team SHDW! Till-**

 _Oh that's adorable! You think you can avoid me on this?_

 **Oh sweet crap, not again.**

 _Till next time guys!_


	33. Post-Epilogue: Thinking with Portals

**Post-Epilogue: Thinking with Portals**

 **Just when I think you've left one of my series alone, you do this. What now, Bill?!**

 _Remember Power Rangers: Dino Fury?_

 **Yeah, you sucked Stryder into a portal... NO WAIT WAIT WAI-**

 **XXX**

Skyler walked through the path in the woods, wondering how the heck the rest of Team RNJR got so far ahead of him. It was safe to say he was a bit lost.

"How the heck is this possible?" Skyler asked himself, "I didn't take that long to drop off that letter. Ruby and the others weren't that far ahead... were they?"

It wasn't long after that he heard something. Like energy swirling through the air. He followed the noise and stumbled upon a strange looking portal. It was just that. In the middle of the woods. Just floating there, swirling.

"Well that's... weird," Skyler muttered, not really sure what else to say.

He approached the portal, examining it. It wasn't like anything he'd seen before. That's when he realized something. He looked down and noticed himself slowly sliding towards the portal. He panicked and turned to get away, but the pull got stronger.

Skyler was in a full on sprint and still getting dragged. Eventually, he reached the portal and was sucked into the unknown.

 **XXX**

 **You cannot be serious.**

 _I know right! You getting deja vu?_

 **Yes. But not in the good way. What are you up to?**

 _Isn't that the question of the day! You'll just have to wait and find out! Till next time guys!_

 ** _TO BE CONTINUED IN_**

 ** _TYFORESTGAMES VS. BILL CIPHER_**


End file.
